Playing The Part
by rosieelfgirl
Summary: Have you ever thought that your life was messed up? Try being Lavi Bookman. Stuck in a world which is just plain bonkers, lead singer of an alternative rock band and falling in love with a white haired pianist. If Music Be The Food Of Love, Play On.
1. Let It Begin!

CHAPTER ONE: Let It Begin

"Sophie! Wait please Sophie!" a girl with green-black hair tied up in high pigtails called after another girl with shoulder length curly brown hair. The brown haired girl stooped to slip on her shoes and pick up her bag.

She then wheeled round, her green eyes blazing. "No way! I cannot be bothered to put up with you guys any longer! I've got enough problems as it is without having to listen to your stupid ideas! I don't need to put up with your crap personalities any longer! I'm leaving! I quit!" and with that she left. Slamming the door on the way out.

The pig tailed girl whirled around to face a boy who was sitting on a dark leather sofa, a smirk adorning his face. He laughed and said, "Good riddance!" The pig tailed girl strolled over to him, she raised her hand and slapped the boy across the face.

The boy, who had his hair tied up in a long pony tail, stood up and swore colourfully at the shorter girl.

"What the fuck was that for you bitch?" he shouted. Said 'bitch' placed her hands on her hips.

"What was that for?" she asked sarcastically. "You just caused us to lose our pianist!" she ran a hand through her hair.

Suddenly a tall red headed boy came running out of the kitchen. "HE DID WHAT?" he asked pointing at the boy who was still rubbing his cheek and muttering swears under his breath.

"He made Sophie quit!" the girl said while slumping into the sofa.

"Why does this always happen every time I leave the room?" the boy, who for some reason was carrying a bowl of freshly cooked chips, asked 'god' or anyone who could tell him why the things happened the way they did. He sat down on another sofa, stuffing a chip into his mouth. The girl grabbed some, eating a few and throwing the rest at the boy she had slapped.

"We need a new pianist." Stated the red head simply.

These people are all members of a band called 'DGRAYMAN'. Unfortunately for them they haven't had a 'big break' in a while now. They mostly record songs, send them to companies, post them on YouTube maybe even perform at clubs. They don't exactly make much money, and they're stuck in a rut. None of them can be bothered to do anything, but hey. That's teenagers for you.

The red headed boy is called Lavi. He is lead singer and has an extremely good memory. He can also play guitar when needed.

Lavi's tall, really tall, he has emerald green eyes, red hair which he keeps out of his eyes with a green or black bandana when he is writing music. His favourite colours are, green, orange, blue and black.

He is normally seen wearing some form of branded shirt, jeans, trainers and an exceedingly long orange scarf. Lavi not only sings the songs but he also writes them, with a little help from Linalee. He also comes up with the basic feel of the music.

As well as being in this band Lavi attends collage; he's taking History and English Literature. Lavi's grandfather, they're not actually related by blood just so you know, Bookman is a History professor at a prestigious school and that's how he got into history. Lavi travelled the world with his grandpa until he was sixteen, thus he knows almost every, no EVERY language on the earth. Oh and some alien ones too.

The pigtailed girl is Linalee Lee.

She plays base and dose some back up singing. Linalee is average height, she has long green-black hair that is usually tied up in pigtails, violet eyes and very long legs.

Her favourite colours are purple, black and white. She normally wears short skirts or shorts, long sleeved tops, dolly shoes and stud earrings.

Linalee helps Lavi write the lyrics to the songs she helps with the music too. Linalee is also is collage, the same one as Lavi and Kanda, she's just taking Science, but to be fair it is made up of Chemistry, Biology and Physics. All in separate lessons.

Linalee is of Chinese origins, easily seen in her facial features, and lives with her older brother Kimoui. Kimoui is a science professor and a temporary manager of the band, he doesn't really do anything…they just need an adult to sign all the papers and legal nonsense. Kimoui also has a sister complex and won't allow any boy to get near his 'darling little sister'.

Linalee also has very distinct green tattoos on her legs, they almost look like alien symbols. You can see an alien theme here can't you? No. They're not aliens, it just happens to be coincidence.

The boy who got slapped is known as Yu Kanda. But if you call him Yu then you're dead.

Kanda is on drums and tends to make up most of the music. Kanda is tall, not as tall as Lavi but still tall, he has blue-black hair that reaches his waste and is usually in a high ponytail, his eyes vary from black and deep blue and he's normally scowling.

His favourite colours are blue and black.

He normally can be seen wearing skinny jeans, tee shirts, converse trainers and long jackets. Kanda is also in collage. He is taking English Literature and Martial Arts. Kanda is captain of the Kendo Club and thus has a katana which he named Mugen.

While other kids name their pets Kanda names objects that inflict pain. Yep, that's typical Kanda for you. Oh well, at least he didn't call it Mittens.

Kanda used live with his foster father Froi Tiedoll, who is a 'famous' artist, and his two foster brothers Marie and Daysia. But he soon got bored, and annoyed, with them so now Kanda lives by himself and works part time in a coffee hut called 'Fresh'. Personally he thought the name sucked.

These three very strange, very different, people are all in a band.

A band that is supposed to be playing at a club called 'ZONE' in three weeks time.

A band that, now, doesn't have a pianist.

^PlayingThePart^

"Lavi! Where are we supposed to find a pianist! We found Sophie at school but it's the summer holidays now!" Linalee said. She slumped further back into the chair and threw some more chips at Kanda.

"Oi stop that!" said Lavi, surprisingly.

Linalee raised an eyebrow.

"I'd rather not have chips thrown round my apartment please Lady Lina." He said as he stood up and walked to his room. Linalee folded her arms and glared menacingly at Kanda.

"What are we gunna do about the pianist though?" she asked, turning her head to look at Lavi who was returning from his room with a laptop. "Already on it!" he said.

Lavi placed the orange laptop on the coffee table and began to fumble with some wires. Soon enough the image of Lavi's wallpaper, an image of Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, appeared on the TV screen.

"Uh?" questioned Linalee, looking at the TV.

"We are going to consult the almighty YouTube!" Lavi cried, punching a fist in the air and clicking on internet explorer.

^PlayingThePart^

They spent three hours looking for a decent person until they actually found one. Their account name was The14th.

"I'll email them." Said Linalee, both boys looked at her.

She rolled her eyes. "You," she pointed at Kanda. "Will just offend the poor person cos you're a natural arse hole. And you," she pointed at Lavi. "Will scare them away." This made Kanda laugh.

Seriously Kanda does laugh, but only at the expense of others.

"Do you think we should call Kimoui? You know, to let him know Sophie quit and we're getting a new one." Lavi asked. The way he said it made it sound as if they had just broken their mums favourite vase and were going to get a replacement before she found out. Linalee nodded. She dialled her brother and put it on speaker phone.

The conversation is as follows:

"Linalee! Hello! How are you?"

"I'm fine brother. You?"

"Great! To what do I ow the pleasure of talking to my darling sister?"

"Uhh…well long story short we're getting a new pianist."

"…why?"

"Kanda."

"Ohhhhhh."

"So is that ok Kimoui?"

"Yes…"

"Just as long as it's a girl."

"WHAT! WHY?"

"God not another girl..."

" Because I'm not leaving my sister alone with three boys!"

"But.."

"End of. If you want to keep Linalee in the band you get a girl pianist!"

"…"

"Lavi…"

"Fine."

"Good! "

And that's what happened. As Linalee was leaving Lavi's apartment she muttered to herself, "Dear God I hope 14th is a girl. If not…...well...I'm sure deceiving my brother will be fun. It'll be just like being a spy!"

^Playing The Part^

A boy with white hair removed the black apron and glanced at the clock, placing a small notebook on a pile with the others.

It was 7:58PM.

The boy sighed. He had worked over time again because one of the employee's hadn't showed up. Did he do it out of the kindness of his heart? No. He was getting paid.

He quickly grabbed his jacket and walked out the door. "See you tomorrow Jerry" he called over his shoulder.

A man with pink hair, who was wearing a cooking apron, poked his head through a door labelled 'Kitchen'. "See ya Allen!" he called. The boy walked out into the summer air and began his walk home.

The white haired boy go's by the name Allen Walker.

He hasn't had the nicest of past's but he manages to smile.

Allen was abandoned when he was little because his left arm is entirely black. He was then taken in by a man named Mana Walker. Mana looked after him and treated him like a son, unfortunately one day he was killed in a pointless mugging. The shock and stress of seeing his 'father' killed caused Allen's hair to turn white.

Allen was then looked after by a friend of Mana's named Cross Marian. It wasn't the best of experiences. Allen got out as quickly as he could.

Allen Walker go's to Uni, also known as Collage or University, he is taking Art and English Lit. Allen my be taking art but realism really is not his strong point, he's a lot better at the abstract side of things, often working in sketch books and water colours.

He lives in an apartment just round the corner from where he works, a coffee hut named 'Fresh'. Allen is short for his age, his eyes are a shade of grey and his skin is unbelievably pale. He normally wears grey/black skinny jeans, long sleeved shirts, trainers and long jumpers.

He has a small dog named Timcampy which he rescued from Cross, that man really was a maniac. Allen Walker doesn't have many friends due to his arm but he makes friends easily because he has a polite nature, people just need to open up to him.

Allen Walker is also a pianist.

A pianist that posts videos on YouTube under the name The14th.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen unlocked the door to his apartment. It was very well furnished for someone who only worked part time at a café.

Well Allen also gambled, and he always won.

This could be because he was lucky but it was most likely because he cheated. Yep Allen cheated at gambling.

He was best at poker. NO ONE would ever beat him at poker.

He walked over to his fridge and picked up a bottle of coke, a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar. Allen was unhealthy to say the least, but he never gained weight. Many girls would kill to know how he did it, but he didn't know himself.

He then walked to the sofa, pulled his laptop towards him and waited for it to turn on while he switched on the TV. He noticed a little message on his screen saying '1 new E-Mail'. He raised an eyebrow and clicked on it. He opened up the email and read it through.

' Dear The14th.

Hello. My name is Linalee Lee and I am the base player for a band called DGRAYMAN, you probably won't have heard of us ^^', we recently lost our pianist and we wondered if you would be interested in the position. We have seen your videos on YouTube and thought you were amazing. Seriously.

This is my MSN (it'll be quicker to talk like that) Darkbootsgirl .uk

Please E-mail me to say if you can talk or not. Thank you.

From Linalee'

Allen just stared at the screen.

Somebody wanted him in their band! This was brilliant! He quickly typed out a reply.

'Dear Linalee.

Yes I'm interested. I'll talk to you on MSN. This is my MSN the14th .uk

^Imaginative or what ^'

Only once he had clicked send did it dawn on him that he hadn't told her his name. "Oh well. I'll tell her later" he said to no one, maybe he said it to Tim.

He flicked through the TV channels until he found something decent to watch. Tim jumped onto the sofa and fell asleep on his foot. "Great…Now I'm gunna have a dead foot when you wake up." He said, but he smiled.

He took a long swig of coke before logging into MSN and registering Linalee as a friend. The rim around her picture was lit up green and sure enough he got a message through.

Hello.

Hey. Your Linalee right?

Yep the one and only! So you're interested.

Deffinatly….wait what music do you guys play?

Mainly Rock. Infact all rock ^^

Yep then I'm in.

YAY! That's great!

Is that all there is to it?

Yeh. Let me give you some details about the band and our members.

K

Well there's me. I play bass guitar, I also do a little singing and help writing the songs.

Then there's Lavi. He's lead singer but can play a little guitar, he writes the songs and does most of the music. He's supposedly in charge but I think I am!

LOL. Anyone else?

Yeh. There's a guy named Kanda. He's on drums also does a lot of the music. He's what caused our last pianist to quit. ^^'

Ah. Kanda Yu?

Yeah. You know him?

We work together...

Cool~

Oh there's also my brother Kimoui, he's not in the band we just need an adult to sign all the papers n shit like that

Lol. Cool.

Ummmm can I ask you a question?

Sure

What's your name?

Oh yeh I forgot. Sorry my bad.

It's ok.

My names Allen Walker.

Crap

Crap?

Yeh…Ok this is gunna sound really weird but I was kinda hoping/praying you were a girl.

What?

I know I know. Thing is my brother has a sister complex and won't allow another boy member. But we have a gig at ZONE in three weeks. So we really really need you! We need you in our band.

And how do you propose we do that?…

Well we simply need to make sure we keep you out of site of my brother. It sould be easy enough. He's hardly ever around anyways.

I dunno...

Oh c'mon. It'll be easy! And fun. It'll be just like being a spy. And it is only for 3 weeks, by then my brother will just have to deal with you being a boy.

Well I have always wanted to be a spy...

Hahaha~ So you're in?

I'm in!

Brilliant! Now I just need to explain everything to Lavi and Kanda...oh crap I forgot Lavi was a blabber mouth!

...

Don't worry. I'm sure everything'll be fine! Ah brother's home. I'll talk to you later Allen! Byeeee~

xoxox

Cya Linalee~ xoxox

And so Allen found himself joining a band, acting like a spy and all together thoroughly confused.

Allen sighed; this was going to be a weird three weeks. Allen walked over to his kitchen to make his dinner. He wouldn't be able to pull it off. He just knew it…but he had seen a lot of James Bond films...

Maybe this would work. Maybe.

Allen groaned and smacked his head on the frying pan he just happened to be holding, which probably wasn't going to help him in the slightest. "This is soooo not going to work!"

^Playing The Part^

PLEASE READ

AN: this is going to be sooo fun! Poor Allen! I have edited this since I first posted it. Hopefully it's better now. This is a Laven! Seriously it is! It may even be Kanalee. I dunno. Yes. Ok incase you haven't noticed Allen DOESN'T have his scar YET. Lavi DOESN'T have his eye patch YET. And Linalee's hair is LONG FORNOW! ;)

I DO NOT OWN DGRAYMAN.


	2. Blame A Sanding Machine For That One

CHAPTER TWO: Blame A Sanding Machine For That One

Allen rolled onto his side and smacked his hand down on the alarm clock. Growling in annoyance at the sound.

Today he had to go see Linalee, Lavi and Kanda.

To say he wasn't looking forward to it was an understatement. Yet at the same time a type of thrill ran through his body at the thought of trying to remain completely unnoticed.

Linalee was right.

It would be like being a spy.

The white haired boy frowned momentarily.

Linalee hadn't actually mentioned where to meet.

"Ah well." he mumbled, having to force himself out of bed in a tangled mess of pyjamas, limbs and blankets. Whining when the cold air slapped against him like a spade. The skinny boy shivered and set about changing his clothes as fast as humanly possible.

"Morning Tim." he said, as cheerily as someone who was pretty much _still_ asleep could. He placed the small golden dog's breakfast in front of him. Timcampy yapped cheerfully, baring glistening pointed teeth.

Allen wasn't too sure exactly _what_ breed of dog Timcampy was. The dog was tiny, not much bigger than a Yorkshire Terrier but could eat four times it's weight in food. Tim went through stages of being completely hyper, running around Allen's apartment and making you feel dizzy, or sleeping for days on end.

The short, skinny, pale boy bent down and ruffled the small canines fur. "How about I take you for a walk in a minute eh?" he mumbled, looking fondly at one of his only friends.

^PlayingThePart^

"Oi. Beansprout." said a voice from behind Allen.

Allen Walker had been wandering casually down the road, his small abnormal golden dog situated on the end of a black leash. He was off in his own world, thinking about what to paint next, about the piano, about why exactly Tim ate so much and various other thoughts, while tapping rhythmically on his old Samsung mobile clutched in his hand.

However his thought pattern had been rudely interrupted by the voice of the one man he really did not want to talk to.

Allen wheeled round to face a tall, Japanese, male with long hair drawn into a low ponytail and narrowed eyes. "What do _you_ want Kanda?" he snapped irritably, silver eyes flaring in anger. The shorted folded his arms across his chest.

"Nothing from you." sneered Kanda, looking down his nose at Allen. "Linalee needed to talk to you." he gestured at a girl stood next to him.

"Linalee?" he turned to meet the purple eyes of the girl who had emailed him just yesterday. "Linalee." he said again, more recognition in his voice this time. The girl smiled and stuck out a hand, "Nice to meet you Allen."

The smallest of the group grinned broadly, and shook her hand "It's a pleasure to meet you! And thank you so much for this opportunity."

Linalee giggled at his formality and Allen felt his face flush. He was never good at dealing with potentially awkward situations. Linalee shifted on her feet, "I would introduce you to Kanda...but you two already know each other."

"Unfortunately." both boys muttered under their breath.

"Nawwww~ Don't be mean to the new guy Yu." sung another voice. Allen turned to see a red headed guy, correction a _really_ tall red headed guy. Allen had to crane his neck just look in his emerald eyes.

"Shut your face you moron!" snapped Kanda, distressing a few of the passers by.

The red head laughed heartily, along with Linalee whom giggled into her hand. Allen just looked at these new people strangely, wondering just what exactly it was he had gotten himself into.

"Nice to meet ya." the red head said, pushing past Kanda and leaning over to look at the white haired boy. "My names Lavi."

Allen looked up at Lavi and shook his larger, tanned hand. "Allen Walker." he replied. Smiling.

^PlayingThePart^

"Welcome to my humble abode." Lavi sung, throwing open the door to his apartment and leading 'The14th' inside.

The three band members had ushered a slightly confused pianist in the general direction of Lavi's apartment. They had only stopped chattering away to him when he _insisted_ he had to drop Timcampy back off at his home.

The group had taken a short detour, not once had Linalee stopped asking questions, and eventually they ended up here. Stood in the doorway to a spacious apartment, looking out over the rooms. As Allen was pulled, pushed and nudged onto one of the sofa's he couldn't help but feel as if he had been kidnapped.

Next month the police would find his corpse in the woods, hanging from a tree, bloated from the heavy rain, tortured look on his face, clothes missing and blood everywhere. The police would scream in horror as the three people in front of him appeared from around a tree, attacking the unsuspecting officers and bestowing them the same fate that fell upon Allen Walker.

"So. What can you play?" Allen was snapped out of his imagination by the question asked by one Lavi Bookman.

Linalee thumped the red headed boy, "Stupid question. We _know_ what he can play, were you not watching his youtube videos?" Lavi pouted, but otherwise remained silent. "What we need to know is if he can play our songs." she continued.

Allen remained silent, shifting as three pairs of eyes stared at him. His right hand felt weird, he glanced down to find his long piano finger still wrapped tightly around his phone. He released his death grip on his three year old, worn out mobile and placed I on the coffee table.

"How about we give him some sheet music and ask him to learn it and come back tomorrow?" Lavi suggested. Linalee seemed to agree with this statement and rushed off to grab some of the desired music.

"_'Brick By Boring Brick'_?" asked Linalee's voice from another room. Lavi agreed heartily with whatever 'Brick By Boring Brick' may be. Kanda acted as if Allen wasn't even there. As Linalee came skipping back into the room Allen wondered if this was his last chance of escape.

The Chinese girl handed Lavi the sheets and sat down next to the still very confused white haired boy. Allen smiled sheepishly at her.

"So," began Lavi, Allen flicked his gaze to the tallest of the group, "As I'm sure Linalee has explained the big ball of sunshine that is Kanda, has caused our pianist to quit."

Allen nodded. Lavi smiled reassuringly.

"Okay. You also know that Linalee's brother, Komui, forbid us from accepting a male pianist?"

Allen nodded again.

"And you _can_ speak, right?" Lavi asked, smirking at the smallest. Allen flushed red, "Yes. I can talk thank you very much." he said. Lavi snickered, "I'm just messing with you. But in all seriousness, we can not let Komui know who you are...here he is." Allen watched as Lavi showed him the image of a purple-black haired man wearing a beret on his phone.

"Why do you have a picture of _my_ brother on _your_ phone?" Linalee asked suspiciously, eyeing the slim black object as Lavi flopped it unceremoniously onto the table.

"Various reasons." he replied, Allen had to stifle a laugh.

"Anyway, if you see this man, walk the other way...or at least _try_ to be inconspicuous." Lavi said, staring pointedly at Allen's hair. "Okay sure." he replied, looking over the music sheets which had just been passed over to him.

"So. Look those over and come round any time tomorrow, and then we'll see if you're good enough." Lavi said, winking at the _still_ confused boy who just dumbly nodded his head in agreement.

^PlayingThePart^

At some point Allen had made the journey home. He wasn't quite sure when, why or how. But he was home now, sat in front of his keyboard, looking at sheet music. Allen sighed, those three could really tire you out.

First there was Kanda, who was either shouting, yelling, glaring or throwing things at him.

Then there was Linalee, who was lovely and always had best intentions at heart but could be a little hyper at times.

And then there was Lavi. Lavi Bookman who was a combination of absolutely gorgeous and raving mad. And by mad Allen meant bonkers, crazy, nuts and any other such word that could be used in place of mad.

Allen thumped his head against the sheet music. He had been right, that _mad house_ would be the death of him and of what little sanity still remained in his soul. And as small an amount that may be, he would prefer if he could keep it relatively intact. Was that really too much to ask?

Apparently so, Allen decided as he looked over the lyrics.

"Gah! How am I supposed to learn this? I don't even know the tune for Christ's sake!" Allen semi-shouted, falling backward, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. Timcampy wandered over and promptly sat on his face.

The white haired boy couldn't help but wonder if this was Tim's way of saying _"Suck it up bitch! You've suffered worse!" _Allen knew that was true, he reached up and pushed the dog from his face, fingers brushing past a slightly raised upside down star on his forehead which was normally hidden behind his fringe.

Allen sighed. Yes, he had been through worse. "Mana, this scar, my arm, Master Cross...school..." Allen sighed, "I've faced worse. I can't let a couple of weirdos get me down!" Allen punched his hand in the air in what would have been a triumphant gesture had he not accidentally smashed his fist into the underside of the coffee table.

"Bloody Hell!" he swore, rubbing his finger as they throbbed, "Great. Because this is _really_ going to help. Why do you hate me fate?"

He turned his attention back to the tasked at hand, he scowled down at the sheet music. "Now how am I supposed to learn you?" he asked the paper, sincerely hoping it came up with an answer. Unfortunately, paper is an inanimate object and as thus cannot speak, Allen knows this but there was no harm in trying.

He glanced around, looking for inspiration...he _needed_ to know the general tune...or it would never work! Grey eyes settled on his laptop. He smirked, "YouTube..." He cracked his knuckles and set to work.

^PlayingThePart^

"_Follow me, follow me, fah lah lah la la!"_

Allen scrunched up his nose in disgust and annoyance, why the hell was _his_ phone playing music by 3oh!3? The white haired boy swivelled his head around, removing his hands from his keyboard, to stare at the source of the offending music.

He picked up the phone and raised it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Ah! Allen is that you?" asked a voice he had thought he wouldn't hear again until yesterday.

"Lavi?"

"The one and only!"

Allen looked at the phone suspiciously, "How on earth did you get my number?"

"Ahhhh! Calm down! You picked up _my_ phone earlier. I used yours to call mine."

he white haired boy stared down at the phone in his hand, so similar to his but so different. It was the same shape, size and colour...but it was missing the scratched screen, the back wasn't held on with duct-tape and he could have sworn he phone had half a corner missing (blame a sanding machine and _'oh so hilarious'_ people for that one).

"Oh...whoops...my bad."

Lavi laughed on the other end of the line, "No problem little guy. They _are_ pretty similar, well apart from the sheer state yours is in."

"Oh shut up Lavi, it's just well loved." Allen said playfully.

"Haha~ How's the learning going?"

"Pretty good, I think I know it."

"Ah that's good!"

"Uhhuh."

"Well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see ya."

"Byeeeeeeee Alleeeeeeeeen!"

"Bye Lavi"

Allen ended the call and turned of Lavi's phone, deciding he didn't want to waste the red heads battery and that he didn't want to accidentally answer any calls intended for the green eyed singer. Allen looked at the phone, it was so tempting to turn it back on and scan through all the messages.

No. Allen shook his head. He and Lavi weren't even friends, he shouldn't do something like that even if he really _really_ wanted to. He was sure Lavi would read through his, but Allen like to think of himself as the bigger person...metaphorically of course.

"Just a couple more hours and then I c-can..." the white haired boy tried to stifle a yawn, "go to sleep." he finished, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his fist, slightly course fabric grating his eye lid.

"Just a little longer."

^PlayingThePart^

Allen clicked his neck as he wandered toward Lavi's apartment.

The white haired boy had awoken on the sofa that morning to a face full of sheet music and dog slobber. Which wasn't really the first this he wanted to see and feel in the morning, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

As he tapped on the wooden door he could already hear the overly excited voices of Lavi and Linalee. No sounds from Kanda, which wasn't really a surprise.

"Allen!" Lavi said cheerily, as he flung open the door. Luckily the thing opened inward otherwise Allen had a horrible feeling he would have just lost his nose.

"Uh, hello Lavi." Allen mumbled.

The red head grinned and dragged him inside by his sleeve. "Good to see you again. Here have some Red Bull!" with that Lavi promptly thrust a can of said drink into Allen's hands. Linalee was giggling away on the sofa, and Allen could help but notice the sheer amount of empty energy drink cans.

"So let's hear you play! You did learn the song, right? Good. Go on. Play!" Lavi said, voice going a mile a minute.

Allen nervously tugged of his gloves and played out the music he had learnt the night before. He got it perfect which was lucky, because without the accompaniment of the other instruments it was extremely easy to spot the mistakes.

"That was great Allen!" Linalee said, enveloping Allen in a tight and completely unneeded hug. Lavi shouted something about a group hug and cuddled both of them in his arms. Kanda rolled his eyes and walked away, smirking at Allen over his shoulder.

Eventually the boy broke free when Linalee rushed off to the kitchen to grab even more energy drinks. Lavi was fumbling around with the speakers. Allen wandered over to Kanda, "Do you have to put up with this all the time?" he asked.

The taller man nodded. "Geeze," Allen said, "Now I know why your always such a grump. I feel like I've been drained of all my life force..."

"Now you see why I wasn't to keen on letting your skinny ass join too." Kanda said, he always managed to offend Allen in some way. The smaller often wondered if the Japanese boy was getting paid for it.

"Come on guys! Let's play!" called Lavi from the other room.

"Just what have I gotten myself into?" Allen asked himself as he followed the red heads voice.

^PlayingThePart^

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

So yes, as you old readers can see. This story underwent some major changes. But it's all good now and I can get back to updating.

Cya in the next chapter

~DGrayDemon


	3. Inanimate Objects Are Not Your Friend

CHAPTER THREE: Inanimate Objects Are Not Your Friend

The band had been rehearsing the song when Komui dropped in. Lavi heard a knock at the front door. "I'll get it!" he said cheerily and bounded off.

Allen looked over to Linalee, she gave him the thumbs up and said, "You did really well Al!" Allen laughed and lent on the keyboard slightly. The keyboard wobbled and his gloves slipped off. He quickly bent down and picked them up.

He had to take his gloves off when he was playing, if he didn't his fingers slipped over the plastic keys and he played the wrong notes.

Allen put the gloves in his back pocket and looked at the instruments littering the room.

First off, in the centre at the back was the drum kit. It was a normal black rimmed drum kit; this was where Kanda was currently sat. So far Kanda had made his life a living hell, but that was to be expected, however he kept him a secret from Komui.

Secondly there were the three keyboards, all positioned in a sort of square against the left hand wall (if you were looking through the door). One was a DJ mix key board that was needed for some of the songs, and for special effects that had to be synthesized. The other two were regular keyboards, but sometimes you needed to use different tones all at once.

This is where Allen was standing.

Thirdly there were three guitar hooks on the wall. One for the bass guitar positioned next the Linalee, one for the Electric guitar which had disappeared along with Lavi and the third...well Allen wasn't too sure what the third one was for.

Lavi would stand in the corner and sing while watching them if they were just doing minor rehearsals. However, if they were pretending they were on a stage at a club Lavi would stand in the middle at the front.

Not to mention the speakers decorating the corners.

They never played too loudly though, sometimes you needed to hear yourself think.

Suddenly the door was flung open by an over panicked bunny that they all knew and loved. "Code red! Code red!" he whispered harshly.

The three members raised eyebrows.

Lavi elaborated, "Komui is _in the living room_."

"Shit." said Kanda

"My sentiments exactly." muttered Allen.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Lavi said, nervously bouncing on the balls of his feet. Suddenly he turned to Linalee. "Linalee! You're the brains of this operation! Do something!"

Gazes whipped to Linalee.

She blinked. Cog's turning inside her head. You could practically _hear_ the click as they slid into place. "I've got it!" she said in a stage whisper.

The three other members leant forward in a conspiratorial manner. "Right. What we do is this. I go out and distract Komui, I'll get him into the kitchen. Then Kanda, you come into the kitchen a little later making sure that the door is closed." Kanda nodded. "Then Lavi. You smuggle Allen into your room. Then come into the kitchen, we'll play him the song and make up some excuse as to why our pianist _'isn't here'_. Then I'll send him off on an errand."

"Got it!" Lavi said, moving to stand against the wall by the door. He reached out and grabbed Allen's wrist, pulling him flat against the wall next to him. Allen raised a white eyebrow in silent question. "Komui shouldn't be able to see us from here." the red head explained.

Linalee wandered out into the living room. A slightly shrill voice erupted from the room, Allen could only assume it belonged to Komui Lee, followed by the quieter tones of Linalee's. There was a small conversation which moved into the kitchen.

"Go time, Yu-chan." Lavi said. Kanda growled, but left with little persuasion.

The two boys heard Lavi's kitchen door shut. "Go, go, go." Whispered Lavi, dashing silently out the door and dragging Allen with him. The smaller tripped over a stray box, a large bang echoed around the apartment. "What was that?" asked the slightly frantic voice of the unknown man in the kitchen.

They quickly ducked behind the sofa, eye's trained to the kitchen at all times. "Probably just Lavi tripping up again." Twin breaths of air were exhaled at the simple reply from Linalee.

They made a mad dash for Lavi's room, Allen popped through the door leaving Lavi standing behind him. The smaller turned around, "Make yourself at home." Lavi said, gesturing at the room. "We'll get rid of him soon enough."

Lavi winked and left the room leaving a slightly confused Allen in his wake.

^PlayingThePart^

'_She lives in a fairytale, somewhat too far for us to find'_

Allen listened quietly to the sound of the other members practising. He could only assume this was part of their plan in getting rid of Komui.

'_Forgotten the taste and smell, of a world that she's left behind'_

Allen still couldn't get over the fact that Lavi was an amazing singer. It was weird. His singing voice was nothing like his normal voice.

'_It's all about the exposure, the lens that's older. The angles are all wrong now, she ripping wings off of butterflies.'_

Allen stood up and decided to snoop around the red heads room.

'_Keep your feet on the ground'_

Lavi's room was messy to say the least.

'_When your head's in the clouds'_

Allen barely had time to look around before he tripped over a pile of books. He tensed as he listned for foot steps. None. No one had heard him over the music.

'_Now go get your shovel. And we'll dig a deep hole. To bury the castle, bury the castle'_

Allen thought that the song should be called 'Bury The Castle' as it said that every chorus. It only said 'Brick Boring Brick' once in the whole song. But it was up to Lavi what they called it so what the hey!

And so the song ended about a minute later and Lavi opened the door with a flourish roughly five minutes after that.

"Way to go Al!" said Lavi, grinning like a fool. "You were like a mini-ninja! Well except when you tripped over those books." He said. Allen felt his face warming slightly. So Lavi had heard that.

"Sorry." He managed to say, rubbing a hand behind his head.

"So can he be in the band or what?" in asked Linalee.

Lavi grinned. "Yes he can."

Linalee and Allen high-fived. Kanda didn't. He did not take part in such foolish behaviour. "By the way…Komui got everything organised for ZONE. So you guys don't need to worry." Linalee added before turning back into the living room and flopping down onto the sofa.

And then there was silence. Allen glanced at the clock. His eyes widened. "Shit I've got to go. Uhhh. Thanks so much for letting me in. I'm really grateful. See ya around!" he said quickly before leaving Lavi's apartment.

"Well I best be going too." Said Kanda. He stood up and left after Allen.

"Well he is something." Said Lavi. Linalee began to laugh. "What!" said Lavi defensively.

"I just can't get over the fact that you were flirting with him!" she said.

Lavi bristled, "I was not! He may be cute and an amazing pianist but I like women!"

This only made Linalee laugh harder. "I'll be sure to tell him you think he's cute! Oh God! I can't wait to see his reaction!" This only made Lavi more frustrated.

"Linalee! You're so evil! No wonder you don't have a boyfriend." he said. Lavi lent against a wall and ran a hand through his hair, succeeding in dodging the cushion aimed at his face.

For some reason he couldn't get the picture of Allen's nervous smile out of his head.

^Playing The Part^

Allen was walking quickly down the road. His shoes made small thuds when they hit the paving slabs. Allen sighed. He was going to be late for work no matter how fast he walked. Now he understood why Kanda was always late.

Allen passed in front of a house's window. He glanced at himself. "Why the hell am I doing this?" he asked himself. "That's something I'd like to know as well Moyashi." Replied a voice from behind.

To say Allen was surprised was an understatement. He probably would have been less surprised if Timcampy asked him how his day had been.

Allen whirled round to face the person who had replied. A tall boy with long hair faced him. "Oh it's only you Kanda." He said, before turning away.

"Like I said. I'd like to know why you're doing this Moyashi." He said, walking alongside Allen. Allen rolled his eyes.

"Doing what?" he asked.

"You know damn well what. You've just suddenly up and joined our band. And now I'm pissed because I have to see your ugly face every day." Kanda stated, flicking his hair. Allen had to hold back a snort.

Kanda had known him for a good year at least. It was needless to say they didn't get along. Kanda was secluded, easily angered, stuck up and arrogant.

Where as Allen was open, also easily angered, helpful and kind.

But they both had there down and up sides.

Kanda was loyal to his friends but this would push others away and people didn't get close to him.

Allen was a kind person who helped others and always thought of someone else's well being before his own, unfortunately this meant Allen wouldn't let people know when he was ill or uncomfortable. You could even go as far to say he had a martyr complex.

But at heart they were both good people...when they wanted to be.

Allen wasn't afraid of Kanda per say, but the older male could be damn frightening when he wanted to be.

"Why are you going this way?" asked Kanda.

Allen look around and considered all the possible things he could say. In his train of thought he had gone completely the wrong way.

He decided to lie through his teeth. "I'm taking a short cut." He replied. Keep your answers short Allen, he told himself.

"Realy?" Allen winced at the sarcasm in his voice. Kanda really was a pain in the ass when he wanted to be.

"You do realise that you just passed Fresh, right?" Kanda asked.

Allen's eye twitched in annoyance. Turning on his heel to head back the way he came.

Kanda was wearing a smug expression. One Allen would quickly break in half.

Allen sighed. "Shut the hell up transvestite bunny lover." he said as they began to walk towards 'work'.

Kanda scowled and shouted profanities as they entered the building through the back and went to the employee changing rooms. There wasn't really a uniform. They just had to wear a black or white shirt and a black apron. He wore black because it didn't draw attention to his disfigured arm.

He couldn't wear gloves when he was waiter-ing. The last time he did he broke everything he tried to pick up.

They walked into the 'behind the bar' area. This was where Kanda worked because, as Jerry said, 'he didn't have good people skills'.

"See ya later fat arse." Allen called. Smirking at the dangerous look he earned from the taller boy.

"What did you call me?" he asked.

Allen picked up a little black book and a pen and walked out from behind the bar. "You heard what I said." He called over his shoulder. "I called you a fat arse! You really need to invest in a dieting book!" this caused a few of the customers to look in his general direction.

Their gazes turned to Kanda, probably because he was growling. "Fuck you Moyashi!" Kanda called back, raising his middle finger for good measure. "Kay!" said Allen.

He walked towards a table where two people were sitting. One was a girl with short orange hair, she was very slender built and looked like someone who would make a good gymnast. The second was a boy with blond hair, he was taller than the girl and had Asian looking blue eyes.

The girl had a slight blush and the boy was fiddling with his sleeves. Allen smiled to himself. It was obvious these two were a couple that was just starting off. Allen walked over to their table. "Hello. I'm Allen, are you ready to order?" he asked.

There was a rule about telling customers, who didn't already know, your name.

"Yes. Thank you." Said the blond guy. Allen jotted down the orders. As he was leaving he caught a bit of their conversation.

"Stop fiddling Bak!"

"I'm not fiddling Fou!"

"Yeh you are. See you're doing it right now."

Allen chuckled. Those two would work out. Allen's smile faltered slightly. He wished he had someone like that. Most people were scared because of his arm and didn't get close to him.

He could tell, from only one day, that Kanda had a thing for Linalee. She was the only one that could calm him.

Lavi seemed to have a libido the size of Jupiter and went after any girl with DD's or above. Allen shook his head, Lavi reminded him of his God Father in some ways. Except Lavi was _a lot_ nicer, and definitely had better looks.

Allen was leaning on an unused table. It was nearly closing time and nearly everyone was done ordering.

Allen looked around the room. He noticed a table of four people sitting in a corner. There was a girl, probably about thirteen-fourteen, a man/boy, you couldn't tell his age, and a pair of twins. On the table were some plates that needed putting away.

Allen sighed and walked over to them, something about them creeped him out. But never the less they were customers and he had to serve them. He quickly cleaned up the table, all the while the man/boy's eyes were following his movements. He then took the plates to the collection point and walked back to the table.

"Can I get you anything else?" he asked. The girl nodded and began to order for them. Once she had finished the man/boy asked him a question so many people had asked him before.

"What's up with your hand?" Allen sighed. "It is not of any importance sir." Allen replied icily. When Allen was annoyed at someone he didn't know he slipped into icy politeness.

"Whoa! Sorry I was just curious!" said the man, he had a beauty spot under one eye and looked Portuguese, waving his hands in front of his chest.

"Well it wasn't in your place to ask." Snapped Allen. "Hey that's n-" the man began, but the girl cut him off.

"Oh Tyki! Leave the cute boy alone!". Oh great! Now he was being called cute! By a girl that was younger than him!

"I'll go get your orders." Allen said, turning on his heel and heading towards the bar. He noticed someone was trying to talk to Kanda. Allen snorted; whoever was trying to do that clearly had a death wish. "Wait a second…" Allen said stopping in his tracks. "Purple hair, shrill voice, flailing arms and annoying the hell out of Kanda...Komui…crap o crap!"

Allen quickly turned to find Lou Fa, the girl who was working today. He ran over to her. "Hey Lou Fa could you do me a favour and take this order? I'm feeling dizzy and need to go sit in the back." He asked.

The brown haired girl nodded and took the slip of paper from him. Allen quickly made his way to the kitchen, making sure to stay out of Komui's view. Lou Fa would always do anything for Allen. She had a huge crush on him and it was very obvious. He felt bad about taking advantage of that but this was an emergency.

He snuck into the employee changing rooms and lent against a locker and slowly sunk to the floor. "This can only end in tears." He said, whilst staring at his shoes. "And they'll probably be mine."

The it struck him.

"Why on earth am I hiding? He doesn't even know who I am!" Allen thumped his head against his knees, "I am an idiot."

^Playing The Part^

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

Oh ho ho do I see some romances in the future? Well I should do seeing as this is a romance…well sorta.

Hehehe. Like I said Al will get his scar, Lavi will get an eye patch and Linalee will have short hair. I promise. ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER….well sorta….ok HALF WILL BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! There that's better.

Brick By Boring Brick belongs to Paramore and in no way is it mine or ever will be. Like I said it will be featured A LOT in this story.

AN: You guys get a special treat in this one! It's twice as long with two different parts! Mainly cos I couldn't think of a good title to sum it all up ^^'


	4. Insightful Girls And Skinny Jeans

CHAPTER FOUR: Insightful Girls And Skinny Jeans

Three weeks had sped by abnormally fast. If this was a cheesy film there would probably be a montage to some peppy music summing up the time they were rehearsing.

Maybe with a few funny clips of Allen 'accidently' dropping some drinks all over Kanda, and Kanda chasing Lavi with his sword, probably some of Linalee hitting the others over the head with a clipboard and stuff like that.

Unfortunately they were all to nervous to be thinking in such a weird way, possibly with the exception of Lavi whom sometimes believed his life was a Broadway Musical.

It was Friday evening and tomorrow DGRAYMAN would make their first appearance at ZONE. Allen was sat on his sofa wondering just how badly he would be tortured when Komui found out he was, well, a he.

Lavi was in his kitchen preparing a pasta dinner, tearing up pices of ham and chucking them into the bowl while considering just _how _badly Komui would hurt Allen.

Kanda was idly thwacking a punching bag with his sword trying to calm the nerves he wouldn't let show and wondering whether Allen would survive the pain Komui was sure to put him through.

Linalee was in her room texting rapidly on her phone, and praying to any god that may exist that her brother would be forgiving.

About two minutes later, Allen, Lavi and Kanda all received a message saying 'COME ON MSN RIGHT NOW!'.

Of course none of them would dare upset Linalee and they all needed a relaxation session. So they did as they were told. Allen and Lavi grabbed their laptops and made for the sofas and Kanda sat down at his computer.

^Playing The Part^

(The14th has just signed in)

(darkbootsgirl has just signed)

Linalee~: Hey Allen

AllenWalker: Yo~

Linalee~: Where are the others?

AllenWalker: Late...Or hopefully Kanda's dead. ;D

Linalee~: Lolz

(BookmanJr has just signed in)

Allen: looks like Lavi's online.

(BookmanJr has been added to the conversation)

LaviXD: HEY!

AllenWalker: Yo

Linalee~: Hello

LaviXD: Where's Yu?

(Mugen has just signed in)

AllenWalker: speak of the devil…

(Mugen has been added to the conversation)

LaviXD: YUUUUUUU CHAN!

Kanda: Shut the fuck up

AllenWalker: pleasant as always *rolls eyes*

Kanda: like ur any better Beansprout!

Linalee~: uhhhh guys?

LaviXD: o.o

AllenWalker: Shut up you bastard!

Kanda: Che! At least I don't look like a girl!

LaviXD: OI! Shut it you two!

Linalee~: Soz guys brother set the oven on fire.

AllenWalker: OMG SERIOUSLY?

LaviXD: ROFLMAO that's awesome!

Linalee~: hehe yeh he does that a lot

Kanda: sounds like something the idiot would do

AllenWalker: that's not very nice

Kanda: ur not very nice

LaviXD: I can see where this is going….

Linalee~: WOULD U 2 STOP ARGUING!

AllenWalker: sorry Linalee

Kanda: che

LaviXD: linalee how do u do tht?

Linalee~: do what?

LaviXD: calm down the devil himself.

AllenWalker: HAHA!

Kanda: ur asking for it usagi!

Linalee~: GUYS! SERIOUSLY SHUT IT!

LaviXD: WOAH! Sorry!

Kanda: baka usagi

AllenWalker: technically I didn't do anything that time.

Kanda: technically ur an idiot

AllenWalker: WOW! Great comeback!

Linalee~: OK IF U DON'T STOP NOW I AM GOING TO MODIFY ALL UR OUTFITS FR TOMOS SO THEY ARE ALL SKIRTS!

AllenWalker: please don't do that…

LaviXD: I'll be good

Kanda: che

Linalee~: seeing as we are on the topic….ive got all the clothes fr tomos.

AllenWalker: awesome

Linalee~: yeh. Allen's gunna look a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e!

AllenWalker: Linalee!

LaviXD: Naww is our cute little Allen embarrassed~?

AllenWalker: WTF Lavi? Don't call me cute!

Linalee~: I can't stop laughing

Kanda: u r so stupid usagi

LaviXD: I am merely stating the truth~

AllenWalker: *smacks head on table*

Linalee~: awww you know you like him really. *pats Allen on the back*

LaviXD: Really?

AllenWalker: No I don't.

LaviXD: so you don't like me?

AllenWalker: Nope. Not one bit.

LaviXD: TT^TT Soooo mean!

AllenWalker: -.-

Linalee~: Lavi stop overreacting. Allen...be less mean. ;)

LaviXD: I am not overreacting! Am I Al?

AllenWalker: Yes you are.

Kanda: Way!

AllenWalker: Kanda u say 'way' ?

Kanda: only online and only to piss off that god damn usagi.

AllenWalker: Must you insert japanese into everything?

Kanda: Yes. Because it pisses of you, moyashi, and usagi.

Linalee~: Brb

LaviXD: I must also brb!

AllenWalker: speaking of which where did he and Linalee go?

Kanda: how should I know where they went?

AllenWalker: no need to get so snappy! You know u'll never get a girlfriend like that.

Kanda: and you'll never get a **boy friend** cos ur so overcritical.

Kanda: no to mention short.

AllenWalker: OI! You're not brilliant urself u know! Ur a pain in the arse and look like a tranny! (and was that a not so subtle way of implying I'm gay?)

Kanda: are you making fun of my hair? (and yes. Yes it was)

AllenWalker: oh look yes I am. (¬.¬)

Kanda: ur so annoying! I swear one day I will kill you!

AllenWalker: haven't you been making that same threat to lavi for aslong as you know him? You can't be very good if u still havn't managed to kill him yet.

Kanda: what is that supposed to mean?

AllenWalker: it means ur stupid and can't even skin a stinking rabbit!

LaviXD: Baaaaack~ Sorry 'nature called'...

LaviXD: Oi! Stop being mean to me when I'm not even here...

Kanda: I may not be able to catch rabbits but I can catch hobbits!

LaviXD: And I was ignored...

AllenWalker: OMG you can rhyme! Well done you get a gold star on your chart! Three more and you get a cookie!

LaviXD: :L Hahaha!

Kanda: u really are asking for it you fucking twat head!

AllenWalker: ohhhh you said a swear im afraid ur going to go and have to sit in the naughty corner. No juice for you today.

LaviXD: This is like a comedy show! I soooo wish I had popcorn right now!

Kanda: Ok that's it! I swear when I meat you tomorrow I WILL kill you!

AllenWalker: how?

Kanda: I'll shove my drumsticks in ur eyes then beat you to death with a guitar!

Linalee~: YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!

Linalee~: Btw. I'm back ^^

Kanda: why not?

Linalee~: we need both the guitar and the sticks to perform.

AllenWalker: nice to know people like me.

LaviXD: I like you!

AllenWalker: Lavi.

LaviXD: yuhhuh?

AllenWalker: shut up!

Linalee~: Why do I even bother to talk to u guys?

LaviXD: cos u secretly have a massive crush on Yu!

Kanda: WHAT?

Linalee~: WHAT?

AllenWalker: for once I actually agree with him.

Linalee~: not u 2!

LaviXD: hehehe it's pretty obvious u know!

Linalee~: right….well putting that aside….how is everyone?

LaviXD: happy!

AllenWalker: good thanks. U?

Linalee~: I'm fine….Kanda?

LaviXD: I think he's in a state of shock.

Kanda: no I am not! Im fine. Pissed off with Beany and Buckteeth but fine

Linalee~: good! Wat u guys up too?

LaviXD: eating pasta and watching Batman!

AllenWalker: why Batman?

LaviXD: no idea! It was on TV. It was either this or Antiques Road Show.

AllenWalker: now I know why u went for Batman.

Linalee~: LoL! Wat about u Al?

AllenWalker: talking to u guys, listening to The Offspring and reading fanfiction.

LaviXD: okay?

AllenWalker: don't worry~

Linalee~: and Kanda?

Kanda: watching TV nothing much else

AllenWalker: and u Linalee?

Linalee~: talking to u lot…I have to go for dinner in a min tho

LaviXD: but then who'll stop Kanda from killing me? O.O

Linalee~: Allen.

AllenWalker: WHY ME?

Linalee~: dunno… anyway G2G I'll see u guys tomorrow!

Linalee~: Byeeeeeeee

LaviXD: C ya!

Kanda: Bye.

AllenWalker: later!

(darkbootsgirl has left the conversation)

(datkbootsgirl is offline)

AllenWalker: what now?

Kanda: well I need to eat and I can't be bothered to put up with both of you so im going.

AllenWalker: cya Kanda!

LaviXD: Bye bye Yu!

Kanda: do not call me that!

(Mugen is offline)

AllenWalker: has he ever not been grumpy?

LaviXD: nope!

AllenWalker: wow! I bet he was charming a child.

LaviXD: Lol!

AllenWalker: well I best be going too

LaviXD: awwww

AllenWalker: hey I got stuff I need to do!

LaviXD: ok ok! Well cya!

AllenWalker: bye Lavi!

(The14th has left the conversation)

(The14th is offline)

Lavi smiled and clicked the sign out button. He closed the laptop and lent further back in his chair.

Tomorrow was going to be good. He decided that no matter what happened, they would all pull through in the end.

^Playing The Part^

It was 7:00 pm. The lights were on In the buildings and people still walked the streets. Among these people was a boy. This boy had white hair and grey eyes. This boy was running towards a club called ZONE.

He reached the building and ran towards a group of three people.

The sign above the door was glowing purple throwing an eeiry light over the group. The girl in the group was carrying a large bag. The boy with the red hair was fiddling with anything he could grab and the boy with the long hair had his arms folded and looked grumpy.

"Sorry…I'm…late." Panted Allen.

Linalee smiled at him. Lavi bent down and picked up the two guitars that were propped against the wall. "No harm done." He said. Allen smiled and ran a hand through her hair. "Shall we go?" Linalee asked. Lavi nodded.

Allen could feel butterflies in his stomach, flitting around and making him want to deposit his lunch onto the path.

They walked to the side of the building and found the side door. There was a security guard standing by it. "Names?" he said. "We're DGRAYMAN." Said Linalee simply. The bouncer looked at the pictures of the band members he had and nodded his head. He stepped aside. Lavi took a deep breath and opened the door.

Allen gasped.

This was clearly back stage. There were people running around everywhere. Electrical wires littered the floor. The gap between the back of the stage and the wall that held the doors to the changing rooms was unbelievably narrow.

Allen could hear the sounds of a sound system pumping music through the club.

They quickly found a deserted corner. Lavi began to talk.

"Ok. We are on in twenty minutes. Me and Kanda will go to the boys changing rooms. Linalee you go to the girls, Allen you're in the toilets just in case Kimoui decides to drop by for a visit. We wait there until we are called. When we go on stage we do not talk to each other unless necessary. Alright?" the others nodded.

Allen was surprised by how serious Lavi sounded. Clearly he was nervous about this.

Linalee passed out the outfits. Lavi and Kanda walked to the changing rooms. Allen was about to go find a bathroom when Linalee pulled him aside.

"Allen I want to ask you something." Allen raised an eye brow. "Do you like Lavi?" she asked. Allen could feel his face redden immediately. "I knew it!" Linalee said triumphantly. Allen quickly shook his head, "It doesn't matter Linalee. It's just as friends...he's the first _really_ good friend I've ever had"

Linale smiled at him. "You never know Al. By the way...you _are _gay right?"

Allen reddened once more. "How did you know?" He asked, Allen could have sworn he hadn't told the older girl.

Linalee looked at him. "No straight man has jeans _that_ tight." She quickly winked and ran off. Leaving Allen standing in a state of confusion and mild frustration.

Allen found a toilet and began to change. Mumbling something about insightful girls and skinny jeans

The outfit was amazing! It was all black with silver adornments. It was made up of a tight coat, trousers and knee high boots.

The coat was long sleeved. On the left hand it had a long silver zip on it for no apparent reason. The right sleeve didn't have a zip making the item seem out of balance, but somehow this only made it better.

Both sleeves had attached gloves. Allen was worried this may make his fingers slip but he noticed they had grip on them. He let out a sigh of relief.

The collar of the coat was high but had a lower one around it. There was a zip down the front that ended half way, making it go in at the middle surrounded by a tight built in belt before flowing out to grace his knees.

Allen zipped up the half-zip, leaving enough room for free movement around his neck and shoulders. He pulled on the boots which also had large zips on them. He legs stayed in his, apparently _far_ to tight black skinny jeans, and his torso stayed covered in his pale blue shirt, although you couldn't see it.

All in all, Allen had to say, he looked hot. Heck he even gave himself a small whistle of appreciation. Allen gaped at himself in the small mirror for a while.

Suddenly a two minute warning for DGRAYMAN ran through the backstage.

Allen hurriedly pushed a gold earring into his left ear and opened the door to check everyone was already out.

They were.

Allen slipped out and stood next to Linalee. He tapped he on the shoulder. Linalee jumped, turned to look at him. She smiled and gave him the thumbs up. "Is everyone here?" asked Lavi, without turning around.

"Yep!" whispered Linalee. They weren't allowed to talk to loudly this close to the stage. Suddenly a booming voice said, "NOW WELCOME TO THE STAGE DGRAYMAN". Allen gulped. "Good luck guys." Whispered Lavi.

^Playing The Part^

Lavi walked to the front of the stage. He took up the microphone in one hand, acting as casual as he could.

"We're gunna play an original song called 'Brick By Boring Brick'. We hope you guys like it!" he looked out to the crowd.

He could see Komui.

The Chinese man grinned at him.

Lavi noticed that as Komui's gaze swung to Lavi's right, where Alllen was, his face became a mixture of shock, anger and annoyance. Not good.

Lavi was about to turn to look when he heard Kanda say, "1…2…3…4". Lavi waited until it was his time to sing.

The nerves were building up inside him. However once he began to sing he felt better. This was going well. Although the light to his right was annoyingly bright. _"She lives in a fairytale..."_

About halfway through the song there was a blinding flash of light to Lavi's right. He saw white briefly in his right eye before it was replaced with blackness. Lavi knelt to the floor and pressed a hand over his eye.

Pain was ripping through it. It felt as though he had though he had been stabbed with a million needles only to have them yanked out and his head slammed into a brick wall. He could feel tears rolling down his face as spots of colour danced in the darkness.

He tried to open his eye but yelped as pain shot through it. "Lavi!" someone shouted. He tried to open his left eye, but it was blurred with tears.

He heard the light that had flashed earlier shatter. Suddenly there was a terrible scream from his right.

He turned to see the blurred image of Allen clutching the left side of his face. Blood was streaming down it and into his hands.

Linalee ran over to the both.

By a horrible twist of fate just as she ran over the light decided it wasn't done yet. Flames jumped through the air and landed on the ends of Linalee's pigtails.

Lavi heard the sound of fire extinguishers and people running to help the three fallen band members. He felt all the fight fall out of him, his spine slackened and he thudded to the floor. He could hear peoples foot steps reverberating through the floor.

He felt a pair of arms around his waist, pulling him upward.

And then he blanked out.


	5. The Tiger's Out Of The Suitcase

CHAPTER FIVE: Tiger's Out Of The Suitcase

Allen's eyes fluttered open slowly. He found himself staring at a roof of white tiles. He rubbed his forehead slightly. He turned his head to look around the room. It was bare, pretty much. There was a small window, a table and a couple of chairs and a TV in the corner of the room. Allen sat up and felt a drip attached to his arm.

From this he gathered he was in a hospital room.

Allen could feel bandages on the left side of his face, covering his eye.

At that moment the door to his room was opened by a doctor in a long white coat. His hair was blond and windswept. There were bags under his eyes and he looked drained. "Ah! Mr. Walker! I see you are awake." The doctor exclaimed happily.

Allen nodded a bemused expression on his face. The doctor clapped his hands and preceded to remove the drip from Allen's arm. "W…what happened?" Allen asked, well he croaked it out. The doctor smiled and handed him a glass of water.

The doctor sat down and began to explain, "Well it seems that when you were on stage one of the lights overheated and exploded. One of the shards of glass hit your face. You were very lucky; it missed your eye by about two millimetres." Allen blinked. "Indeed." Said the doctor, apparently interpreting his blink.

The doctor wove his fingers together and continued. "There was a large scar on your face. New treatment has been developed to improve the appearance of scars. It's more like a tattoo now." The doctor smiled.

Allen tentatively touched his face. There was a slight twinge of pain.

Suddenly a thought struck him. "What happened to Lavi, Linalee and Kanda?" he practically shouted.

The doctor waved in a calming manner. "Kanda was not affected as he was further back on the stage." Allen let out a sigh. As much as he hated Kanda he didn't want to see him get hurt.

"Miss Linalee is fine as well. Unfortunately the fire burnt off quite a lot of her hair, but she is fine….quite happy really. She's up and about and is coming to see you later." Allen smiled, good old Linalee.

The doctor's expression wavered a bit. Allen grew worried.

"Unfortunately your friend Lavi was very close to the light. It seems that it flashed very brightly and it has….well he's now permanently blind in his right eye." The doctor watched as Allen's expression changed from calm to shock to horror.

"It's ok! He's fine! Sleeping at the moment but absolutely fine!" said the doctor quickly, waving his hands in front of his chest.

At that moment the door to his room was flung open with a BANG. The sound caused Allen to wince and the doctor to jump nearly ten foot into the air.

"ALLEN!"Cried the familiar voice of Linalee.

She promptly ran across the room and hugged him so hard he could barely breathe. "Ne…need….air…lina…lee" he breathed out.

Linalee released her death grip on him and sat down on the edge of the bed. Allen took a good look at her. Her hair was very short. It was probably shorter than his.

He blinked, Linalee smiled "Different huh?" Allen nodded.

"It suites you though." He said smiling, he wasn't lying…it really did suit her.

"Thanks Al!" she said.

She glanced over her shoulder. Allen turned his head to see Komui talking to the doctor. "Ohhhh dear…" he whispered.

Linalee laughed. "Don't worry! I explained everything! He even says you can stay in the band!"

Allen's eyes grew wide. "Really?" he said, shocked out of his head.

"Yes really." Said Komui, who had walked over to them, "But I still need to have a word with the lot of you."

Allen and Linalee exchanged worried glances

The doctor started to remove the bandages from Allen's face and replaced them with new ones.

"You seem to be healing up fine….just to be safe keep this set of bandages on until tomorrow." The doctor stood up, smiling he outstretched a hand. "I haven't introduced myself yet. My names Reever." Allen shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

Komui turned to look at Allen. Allen felt a cold sweat drip down his neck. Komui seemed to notice the change in expression and smiled. "Don't worry Allen. I'm not _that _mad at you. I'm just glad you're ok." Allen smiled cautiously.

^PlayingThePart^

A few hours later Reever clapped his hands slightly. "Alright! You're free to leave! There are some clothes in the bathroom for you." Allen raised an eye brow.

Linalee blushed, "I went and got some from your apartment…you don't mind do you?"Allen shook his head. He stood up. Luckily for him he was wearing blue hospital pyjamas, not the gowns with the open back. He made his way over to the bathroom.

He locked to door behind him and looked at the clothes on the toilet seat. There were dark blue boxers, black/gray skinny jeans, a blue tee-shirt (as it was very hot this time of year and long sleeved would be impractical.), socks and a pair of his lace up combat boots.

He quickly put them on and turned to the mirror. He picked up a comb and ran it through his hair. The bandages on his face only added to his odd appearance, he was pretty damn sure this 'scar' was not going to help him in the slightest. He already had enough trouble as it is.

He sighed, put the comb down, splashed water on his face and walked out of the bathroom.

Linalee was smiling at him. Komui had a non-committed expression on his face and Reever looked as tired as ever.

Allen had a sudden thought, "Do you think it would be ok if I went to see Lavi? I know he's not awake yet but…." He asked, rubbing the back of his head. Linalee gave him a knowing look and he felt his face flush.

"I think that should be ok." Said Reever, "He's in the room next door." Allen nodded, thanked him and exited the room. Linalee followed and Komui stayed with Reever.

Allen opened the door to Lavi's room. He looked at his friend sadly.

The usually playful and bouncy Lavi was lying, very still, in a hospital bed. His skin was pale, drained and his lips were cracked and pale. There were bandages around his head and right eye. On the bedside table was a black eye patch, presumably for him to use when he woke up.

Allen sighed. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine Allen. Don't worry." Allen nodded.

Linalee smiled and left the room saying she would give him a minute alone with the older boy. Allen heard the door click shut and walked to the bed.

"Hey...it's good to know you're ok...truthfully I feel really stupid talking to you at the moment..." Allen smiled. "But you were the first person I thought of when I woke up. Hopefully you will wake up soon...and you're in for a surprise...I don't really know what else to say...Oh Komui's going to sue the people who set up the lights...yeh...so I guess I will see you soon." Allen bent down and pulled Lavi into a small hug before leaving the room. "By the way...The tiger is out of the suitcase."

Linalee was standing outside the door. "Let's go." She said.

Allen followed Linalee along the white and blue corridors of the hospital, willing the door to arrive soon.

And luckily for Allen it did.

The two friends stepped out into the afternoon sunlight. The pavement was hot under the summer sun and radiated heat into the soles of Allen's trainers. "Bloody hell! It's really hot..." Allen said looking at Linalee.

Linalee nodded. Allen gazed upward at the sky, "Shall we go to my apartment for a little while?" he asked, "You know, get a drink and stuff... I also really want to put some three quarter lengths on." Linalee laughed and Allen joined in as they walked along the concrete pavement towards Allen's paid-for-using-poker-'skills'-apartment.

^Playing The Part^

Lavi opened both his eyes and then closed the left one quickly as a sharp pain shot through it. "Fuck!" he whisper shouted holding a hand up against his painful eye.

All of a sudden a doctor with spiky blond hair with a brown streak in it ran into the room.

"You're awake!" the doctor said, almost sounding surprised.

Lavi grinned, "Yep. Miracle that I am!" the doctor just shook his head and set about explaining what had happened to him.

Lavi focused through all of this before asking, "What about the others?" The doctor, whose name was Russell, smiled.

"Miss Linalee is fine. Her hair was burnt and there are some minor burns on her hands but she is perfectly fine." Lavi let out a sigh of relief.

"What about Kanda?" he asked. The doctor checked his laptop. "Hmmmm...ah! Kanda was not admitted to the hospital it seems he was perfectly unharmed."

Lavi grinned, "Good old Yu-chan! And...what about Allen?"

Russell scanned the data, "Last name?" he asked.

"Walker. Allen Walker." he replied tiredly. Pressing a hand to his head.

A pain went through his eye again, he hissed. Russell jumped up. "Please don't strain yourself! Your eye is going to hurt for a while!" Lavi sat back. Russell checked the files.

"Walker...Ah there was an Allen Walker admitted to the hospital with you and Miss Lee...?" Russell asked. Lavi just blinked...

"ehhem. Allen suffered injuries to his face. He has a scar but should be fine." Lavi just nodded blankly. Guilt stabbing his heart. They made Allen join...and now he was scarred.

Roughly two hours later Lavi was allowed to go home.

His now blind eye covered by a black eye patch.

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked back to his apartment.

This was all to weird...he hoped that the lighting riggers were sued. Lavi had a moment of de-ja-vu. He was sure someone had told him that they were being sued.

Lavi shook his head, his red hair matching the colour of the sky. Unfortunatly this made his eye twinge again.

He checked his mobile. Ten texts. Lavi opened the phone and began to read.

Received: 3:34PM

-Lavi

Hey! I hope you are awake by now. Im ok. Allen is with me ATM. Kanda is somewhere...call me back please.

-Linalee

Received: 3:45PM

-Lavi

I guess you're not awake yet. Please call me back when you get the chance.

-Linalee

Received: 4:05PM

-Lavi

Hey. This is Allen writing. My phone is dead right now so I'm using Lina's. Just thought I'd say, I'm okay and I hope you're okay. Kay. Linalee says call back Pls.

Allen~

-Linalee

Received: 4:23PM

-Lavi

Hey. I heard from Linalee that you are okay-ish. Just thought I would let you know that we, as in Moyashi, me, you, Linalee and Komui are meeting in Fresh tomorrow at 6pm.

-Kanda

Received: 5:09PM

-Lavi

We are meeting up in Fresh at 6PM tomos. It's important.

-Linalee

Received: 6:04PM

-Lavi

Seriously are you ok? Im starting to worry. BTW my fone aint dead anymore ^^

-Allen

Received: 6:15PM

-Lavi

We are meeting in Fresh at 6 tomos. Be prepared...tiger's out the suitcase...Komui knows.

-Allen

Received: 6:30PM

-Lavi

Oi! Apparently you aren't replying to any of the messages Linalee and Beany are sending you! Hurry up and reply unless you want Linalee to cry!

-Kanda

Received: 6:32PM

-Lavi

Sorry if Kanda sent you a rude message. He's only worried for you after all. Can you call me back please?

-Linalee

Received: 7:00PM

-Lavi

Just thought I would let you know my scar's healing up fine. They did this special thing to it n now it looks like a tattoo. I hope ur ok. I know ur eye went blind but I bet that eye patch will look really cool on you! K cya tomorrow!

-Allen

Lavi smiled. His friends were good people. Maybe they should all go on holiday together? They defiantly deserved it after what had happened.

But what about the band?

They really need to get their act together! (no pun intended). They need a big break...win something maybe... be noticed by someone... something ... anything!

Lavi ran a hand through his hair. He opened his apartment door and collapsed onto the sofa. He grabbed the home phone and set about calling Linalee back.

^Playing The Part^

Lavi was once more walking down the road in the heat. This time however he was walking towards the cafe Fresh and towards 'Something Important' as Linalee put it.

Lavi strolled along casually. He had a bright blue tee-shirt on and brown board shorts with numerous attachments and pockets. All in all he screamed 'It's summer I don't give a shit.'

Lavi did however attract some attention, probably because of the eye patch he was now wearing.

Some troublesome chavs had been imaginative enough to call him pirate. And that's about as imaginative chavs get.

Lavi just casually placed one foot in front of the other and carried on walking.

Lavi rounded the corner and saw the green sign of Fresh. A smile crept onto his face. Time to see what the 'Important Thing' was.

To be perfectly honest Lavi knew exactly what it was. Komui now knew everything.

As he opened the front door of the small, yet well known, café it was almost as if he could see a warm glow emitting from the only occupied table.

His friends, he noticed, looked relatively unscathed. Linalee, who had stood up as soon as the door opened and was giving him a tight hug, looked fine.

Her hair was a lot shorter now, probably shorter than his, and there were a few plasters on her hands but aside from that she looked fine. She was a picture of cuteness in her denim shorts, purple strappy, dolly shoes, bangles and thin black jumper.

Kanda, who had also stood up but was not hugging him, was completely fine. No marks anywhere, he was his usual self in black jeans, blue top and white trainers. He glared at Lavi, but it was a glare that said 'You are so annoying for making me worry!'.

Of course Kanda would never say that out loud. Allen was currently hidden behind a small bit of wall and an over exited Linalee.

Allen stood up and walked in front of him. Lavi registered three things in that moment. One his left arm was completely black. Two there was a red scar on his face, stretching above and below his eye. Three Allen looked adorable in oversized jumpers.

For once in Lavi's life he found himself lost for words. Three words came to his though. "Are you okay?" he asked. Allen smiled and nodded, tapping his scar, "Doesn't hurt a bit." Lavi took a closer look.

"How come there's a star?" he asked.

Allen laughed, "Oh that? That's always been there...I kinda sorta fell onto a star shaped lawn ornament when I was twelve. It's an old scar that just happened to connect to the new one. Weird huh?" Linalee giggled and made her way back to the table.

Lavi followed suit. Plopping down next to Allen and stretching his arms above his head. "So what are we doing _here_ exactly?" he asked.

"Che. I work here with the Midget. We convinced Jerry to let us meet up here." Kanda said, jabbing a thumb in Allen's direction. "It's Allen you moron!" muttered the white haired pianist.

Lavi turned to look at Linalee. "Can you answer my question because that really did not help?" Linalee laughed lightly, brushing a hand through her now substantially shorter hair.

"We're waiting for my brother...he...wanted to have a word with us." she said, purple eyes turning to the table top.

^PlayingThePart^

"Okay. Maybe I was a little silly." Komui said, smiling slightly.

Allen grinned. Linalee looked exhasperated, "A little? It was unreasonable..."

Komui sighed, "Okay I'm sorry. As an apologetic gesture, all the money gained in suing the 'light people' will be split equally between the four of you. And I won't interfere with your band choices ever again...but I'm still looking out for my sister," he pointed an acusing finger at Lavi, Kanda and the Allen, "So keep your hands to yourself! Got it!"

Allen blinked, this man really was weird.

"Brother!" Linalee said, whacking the oldest man around the back of the head.

Lavi chuckled, which turned in to laughter which in turn spread to Linalee who gave it to Allen. Even Kanda smiled.

If anyone had looked in through the window at that point, they would either have smiled or ran away quickly. Depending on whether they saw the laughter or the after effects of Lavi saying, "Yu smiled!".


	6. More About You

CHAPTER SIX: More About You

Allen opened the door to Fresh as the sun was dipping below the horizon. The small bell tinkled in the movement of the three people following him. Allen turned around, his white hair dancing around his face due to the movement. The air was still a normal summers evening.

Allen breathed in and smiled at his friends. "Me and Kanda are going this way! See you guys tomorrow!" Linalee said smiling and pointing down the road. "Ok! Cya!" Allen called after them as they turned and walked away.

"They are so going to get together in the end!" said Allen turning to Lavi a smile plastered onto his pale lips. Lavi smiled.

However as they walked, close to each other, down the street Lavi felt slight nervousness and embarrassment at their close proximity. "Soooooooooo...your eye is okay now right, Lavi?" Allen asked. Lavi turned to him and smiled warmly, "Yeh I'm all right." He replied, "Are you all right Allen?"

Allen grinned at him, "Yeh! I'm good." He suddenly yawned remarkably loudly. Lavi burst into laughter, "You seem tired!" Allen nodded, "Well it's been a long couple of days!... I've still got really far to walk though...darn." he muttered the last part.

An idea popped into the red heads head. But the idea, however brilliant it may be, brought a slight blush to his face. It was a good idea and it would help him to get to know Allen better.

"Hey Allen..." he said. "Hmmm?" replied the white haired boy whilst turning to gaze at Lavi with his silver orbs. "I was wondering...if maybe...you would...like too...stay over at my house?" He asked. Allen's face visibly lightened. "Yeh! I would love to!" Lavi stuttered out a, "G-great! You can borrow some of my clothes to sleep in. Uhhhhh...shall we pick up a pizza on the way there?" Allen smiled and nodded. Lavi couldn't help but beam at the expression on Allen's face.

^Playing The Part^

As they walked down through the main part of town Lavi began to sing under his breath,

_'When our time is up, when our lives are done will we say we had our fun.'_

Allen glanced up at the taller boy. Lavi smiled and winked at him,

_'Will we make our mark this time. Will we always say we tried.'_

Allen grinned as he recognised the songs. It was one of the more recent ones Lavi had written. It was called _'Rooftops(A Liberation Broadcast)' _quite a long name for a song, the band just called it Rooftops for short. Allen opened his mouth and began to sing along with Lavi.

_'Standing on the rooftops everybody scream your heart out! Standing on the rooftops everybody scream your heart out! Standing on the rooftops everybody scream your heart out! This is all we got now everybody scream your heart out!'_

Lavi smiled at Allen who gave him the thumbs up. Allen turned his head and noticed they were attracting quite a bit of attention. However attention was the key to success in the music industry.

Evening shoppers had stopped to listen as they past.

_'All the love I've met I have no regrets. If it all ends now I'm set. We will make our mark this time, we will always say we tried'_

It was strangely calming. Walking along in the setting summer sun with Lavi, singing songs and smiling like there was no tomorrow. Allen could feel himself blushing and only hoped Lavi didn't notice.

_'Standing on the rooftops everybody scream your heart out! This is all we got now everybody scream your heart out! Standing on the rooftops wait until the bomb drops this is all we got now, scream until my heart stops never gunna regret, watching every sunset listen to your heart beat, all the love that we felt scream your heart out.'_

After a while the song ended. Both boys were surprised when claps erupted around them. Allen jumped and blushed, scratching the back of his head. Lavi grinned and bowed dramatically, grabbing Allen's hand and pulling him down too. "Excuse us but we have to take our leave!" Lavi said. He turned and ran down the street, pulling Allen, and called over his shoulder, "If you like that check out DGRAYMAN on YouTube! We're good! You'll see!"

^Playing The Part^

Allen panted out the words, "Geeze! Slow down!". Lavi blinked and realised that he had just made Allen run nearly all the way back to his apartment, it was only around the corner. "Ah! Gomenasi Allen!" Allen was bent over, panting slightly, his face was flushed as he looked up at Lavi. "You better be sorry! You know I'm not a sporty person!" He said.

Lavi smiled, "I Know. Gomenasi!" Allen raised an eyebrow, "What's with the Japanese?" he asked. Lavi smiled, "Sorry I'll stop now...poor Allen...can't even run." he teased. Allen thumped Lavi with a fist and pouted.

Lavi held his arm in mock pain and looked at Allen's face. Instantly he felt heat flush to his face. Allen was stood in the remains of the sunlight. The red sky stretched out behind him before turning to blue and then to black. His white hair was shining and stood out against the black of the sky behind him.

His red scar stood out starkly, but in a good way, against his porcelain skin. His cheeks were flushed due to all the running and a pout was situated on his pale lips.

Lavi had to gulp before he said, albeit shakily, "Sh-shall we get going then?" Allen nodded and began to walk away. Lavi laughed, "Allen it's this way!" he called. Allen span around and blushed more. He walked back the way he had came and stuck his tong out at the red head as he past. Lavi laughed and strode after Allen, easily catching up too him because of his longer legs.

^Playing The Part^

Lavi strode into his apartment and slumped onto the sofa. It really had been a long day. He was exhausted. But could you blame him? He almost felt like laughing. If he had been anyone else he would probably be questioning his sanity by now! However this was Lavi, he had no sanity to question.

Lavi looked up as he felt the sofa dip slightly as Allen sat down. He opened his eye and looked at him lazily. Allen grinned sheepishly, "Long day, huh?" he asked. Suddenly Lavi just cracked up. He began to laugh uncontrollably. Soon Allen had joined in and both teenagers had tears in their eyes.

After all the nonsense there was a silence, in which Lavi just sat with his head resting on the back of the sofa.

Allen picked up some of the sheets of paper and began to read them out loud:

_'I am the one, your help I've refused. Your offering hand just set of the fuse._

_I am the rock that pushes away. I gave up tomorrow to spite today._

_To proud to beg, to stubborn to try, I'd look in your face and spit in your eye...'_

"That's about Kanda, right?" Allen asked. Lavi smiled and nodded. Allen began to laugh once again before picking another sheet up.

His gray eyes flicked across the writing,

_'I dreamed I was missing. You were so scared. But no one would listen, cause no one else cared. And after my dreaming, I woke this fear. What am I leaving when I'm done here?'_

Allen's face set into a slight frown. "Lavi...you know I would care right? If you went." He said, a light blush adorning his cheeks. Lavi smiled, "I know you would Allen." Allen turned to smile at him. Lavi smiled back. After a few moments of companionable silence Lavi stood up and walked to his kitchen, "Pizza?" he asked. Allen nodded.

^Playing The Part^

Allen yawned before he got a face full of cloth. "Mnpf!". He pulled what ever it was off his face and had a look at it. There were a pair of black and green sort-of-tartan-but-not-really-tartan slightly-longer-than-knee length shorts and a dark green t-shirt. He raised a questioning eye brow.

"Pyjamas!" Lavi said happily. Gesturing at the red garments he was wearing. Allen nodded and walked to the bathroom, quickly changing and returning to the room. Suddenly a large weight thumped into his side. Allen turned to see Lavi who was hugging him whilst saying, "Neeeeee~ Beansprout looks so cute~" Allen blushed and pulled the larger teen off of him.

"MY NAMES ALLEN!" He shouted out of habit. Lavi chuckled and sat down on the sofa, popping a DVD into the TV and waiting for Allen.

They sat there _watching _the film. Neither was truly watching it. Lavi was too distracted by Allen, who looked undeniably adorable in his oversized clothes.

And Allen was distracted by the sent wafting off Lavi's clothes. He was trying so hard not to sink deeply into the fabric and just sleep. It was just such a comforting smell!

Allen eventually gave up the struggle and said, "Lavi. I think I have seen this film before. Would it be all right if we chatted a little while we watch?" Allen was amazed he managed to say that sentence without stuttering or mumbling. Lavi turned to him, secretly thankful that Allen had started a conversation, and nodded. "Yeh. How about we talk about our selves...ya know...so we get to know each other a little better?"

Allen nodded and then said, "Lets start with simple questions. Okay. Favourite colours?"

"Red, orange and green!"

"Wow. Opposite to me. I like, Black, white and red. Your turn."

"Hmmmmm...is white your natural hair colour?"

"Uh. Yeh. Well kinda. It was brown originally, but it went white from shock."

"Shock of what?"

"Nahah! One question per round! Soooooo...tell me about your family."

"My real mother and father abandoned me when I was around three. My grandfather adopted me from the orphanage. He lives over in America teaching history at Harvard. I don't see him very often, he doesn't agree with me trying to go into music...yeh we never had a great relationship but we get along fine." Lavi smiled at he end of it and returned the question back to Allen. The smaller boy smiled weakly.

"We have that in common. I was abandoned by my parents as well. But it was because of my arm. You see it used to be all veiny and red...its dulled now...so its black. Anyway, after that I lived with my foster father Mana. He was...killed in a mugging when I was eight...my hair turned white from shock. I was then sent to live with my god father Cross Marian. I hate that man! I left as soon as I could!" Lavi didn't know what to say so he remained silent. Allen smiled and reassured the red head that it was fine and he was used to it by now.

Lavi smiled kindly, Allen was a really nice guy. He had had all this, to put it plainly, shit thrown onto him yet he still pressed onwards. What a little trooper! No matter how many times he fell down he always got back up again. And he never felt sorry for himself.

Inspiration hit Lavi like a rusty frying pan. He jumped to his feet and raced into the kitchen, returning with a pen and paper, his bandanna and a determined expression.

Allen jumped as Lavi threw himself back onto the sofa. His pen was whizzing over the paper. "Lavi what are you...wait a minute. Bandanna, pen, paper, sudden unexplained movements...your writing a song!" Allen said, slightly amused at the red heads distracted nod.

Allen smiled and shook his head in disbelief. Lavi could be so unexpected!

Allen turned his attention towards the film that was still running, curled his knees up to his chest and snuggled into the corner of the sofa. Every so often he would glance Lavi's way. Lavi looked really cute, with his eyebrows furrowed and a tiny bit of his tong poking out, Allen was finding it hard not to blush.

Allen yawned and looked away from the scribbling teenager.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen's eyes fluttered open to the sound of a distant voice,

_'Nothing I say comes out right, I can't love without a fight, no one ever knows my name'_

Allen blinked a few times. That...was Lavi's voice...but he didn't know this song...was it new?

_'When I pray for sun it rains, I'm so sick of wasting time, but nothings moving in my mind, inspiration can't be found. I get up and fall but,'_

Allen mentally chuckled at how the song seemed to relate to him in an almost perfect sense. Uncanny.

_'I'm Alive, I'm Alive, Oh yeah, between the good and bad is where you'll find me, reaching for heaven. I will fight, and I'll sleep when I die, I'll live, my life, I'm Alive!'_

Allen sat up and smiled at the red head, clapping his hands in a one man audience. Lavi started at the sudden sound and began to blush, rubbing a hand nervously behind his head.

"Eheheheh...than you Allen." he spoke in a sheepish sense, clearly he hadn't realised Allen was awake. Allen laughed and grinned at Lavi's discomfort, it was refreshing to see the normally outgoing red head looking slightly self conscious.

Lavi shook his head in mock annoyance at the short, white haired boy. He placed the sheet of paper in a folder and yawned, "Owwwaaaa...we'll work on...oaaa...that when we next meet up with Linalee and...and Kanda." Allen giggled as Lavi tried to suppress his yawns.

Allen had to admit he felt ever so slightly like a girl, for giggling and blushing. But he couldn't help it! Lavi soon joined in and the two found themselves rolling on the floor laughing like Monday would never come. Although, technically it was already Monday, so they were laughing like Tuesday would never come? Well whatever.

Now if this was a holly wood block buster both would stop laughing simultaneously. Raise their heads slowly and gaze into each others eyes. Some sappy music would be playing and the focus would keep flitting from one set of eyes to the other, memorises playing in the background over the top of a pink flowery background. And slowly their heads would move closer together and then-

Then the film real would burn out with a squeaking record noise, because this, this is the real world. What actually happened was the two boys switched off the lights, yawned and curled up, play fought with their toes and then slipped peacefully into a world of fantasy and dreams.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen was rudely awoken by someone, or something, prodding his cheek. Allen moaned and rolled over, "Ten more minutes." The source of the prodding laughed and began to shake him as well.

"Gerrof!" the extremely sleepy boy groaned out. The shaking increased in speed and strength.

Allen yelped as he was pushed from his sleeping spot to land on an rugged floor.

"Hey! What was that fo-" Allen began to shout at the source of his annoyance AKA Lavi Bookman, but was emediatly cut of when said idiot began to tickle him to death.

"Ha! L-La-Laaavi! Ah! Hah-S-Sto-Ahaha! Stop! C'-C'mon! Haha! I-hah-am re-really! Haha! Ticklish!" Allen gasped out.

Lavi's grin widened, "Should you really have told the person tickling you that? Hmmmmm?" Allen's eyes widened and he tried to scrabble away from the taller boy. Just as Lavi was about to pounce on him and tickle the life out of him, the door bell rang.

Lavi sighed and stood up. It was only at this point that Allen noticed Lavi wasn't actually wearing his shirt, skinny jeans and socks but no shirt. Allen's face flushed, adding to his already rouged cheeks.

Allen scrabbled to his knees and peered over the sofa as Lavi opened a door. Standing in the doorway was a woman. She was chubby, frizzy brown hair, watery blue eyes and her hands placed firmly on her hips. Allen gulped, she looked very determined about something.

"Can I help you?" asked Lavi, completely calm. The woman huffed, "Yes actually. I would like to ask you, both of you," Allen jumped. "To keep it down. I am completely accepting, I would just appreciate it if you were quieter. My daughters only ten." Lavi cocked his head to the side. "I'm afraid I don't know what your talking about."

Allen had a sudden stroke of realisation. "Thuds. Shouts, moans, pleas to stop. Oh dear. Shirtless Lavi, messed hair, flushed face, hiding behind sofa. Crap!" Allen jumped up abruptly.

Waving his hands in front of his chest, "Ah! No Madam! It's not like that at all! I was asleep and he pushed me off the sofa, and then- well then he was tickling me! So-yeh. It's not what you think at all!" Allen said quickly. Lavi's eyes widened and his face turned red as well.

The woman stared at Allen, who shifted on his feet before saying, "I'm going into the kitchen!" and doing as such.

^PlayingThePart^

"Allen?"

"Ehm?"

"What. Are. You. Doing?"

"I'm trying to drown myself in cereal!" Allen gurgled. He wasn't lying. His head was buried in a bowl of cereal and milk. Lavi rolled his eyes and yanked Allen's head up, replaced the bowl with a pillow, and let his head drop again.

"Never mind drowning yourself, who even said you could even _eat _the cereal?" Lavi said grumpily, sitting on the work surface.

Clearly he was annoyed at the woman. Allen 'hmpf'd into the pillow and glanced up at Lavi who, along with Allen, was now wearing actual day clothes. The taller boy was pouting in annoyance and blushing slightly. Allen sighed and sat up.

"Maybe it would be best if we just pretended that never happened. And whatever you do, do not tell Kanda!" Allen stated, pushing his chair back with his legs as he stood up and strode from the room.

Lavi, who was still sitting down, gazed up at the white haired boy as he strode from the room. The door to the bathroom clicked shut and the lock moved into place. Lavi let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad he isn't to embarrassed...he actually seems more composed than usual...weird." Lavi stood up.

He pulled out his mobile and sent Linalee and Kanda a text message. Allen walked into the room and was nearly hit in the face with a biker helmet. "Huh?" Allen questioned, turning the shining red item over in his hands.

"We need to meet up with Kanda and Linalee. We need to sort this whole band deal out. We need to know what to do next. And seeing as it is such a nice day we are meeting them in the park. But it's to far to walk so we're going on my bike." Allen gulped. He had a feeling Lavi would be a fast driver.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen had been right.

The two boys were zipping down the roads. Allen was clinging on tightly to Lavi's waste. He was shaking slightly and Lavi was laughing his head off. The boys headed towards the park with Lavi crying, "WOOOOOO!" and Allen nearly crying into the red heads jacket.

SONGS USED:

Rooftops (A Liberation Transition)- Lostprophets

Trust In You-The Offspring

Leave Out All The Rest-Linkin Park

I'm Alive - Becca

Sorry if my formatting is a bit off in this chapter. I've just started using OpenOffice...its kinda confusing!


	7. Midnight Merlin Marathon

CHAPTER SEVEN: Midnight Merlin Marathon

Allen would have kissed the ground if it hadn't been, well you know, ground. Lavi began to laugh at the amusing sight of the smaller boy slumped under a tree, his nails digging into the grass and an evil glare set on Lavi. "How did I know you were going to go at an insanely fast speed?" Allen asked sarcastically. The redhead laughed and slumped next to Allen, throwing his arms behind his head and saying, "Maybe it's because you know I'm insanely awesome, brilliant, handsome and sexy?" Allen snorted, "Yeh, not to mention you're _insanely _modest" Both boys exchanged a look before bursting into fits of laughter.

Tears were forming in Allen's eyes as he laughed along with his friend. However, unlike Lavi, Allen had managed to remain upright. Lavi was lying on his back, clutching his stomach and rolling from side to side. "Lavi. Breath! Breath!" Allen shouted, trying to break through to the red headed fool. Lavi took in a long shaky breath. "Phew….I haven't laughed like that in a long time!" Lavi said, grinning and flopping back down onto the grass. Allen smiled. "Same here."

There was a peaceful silence as both boys watched the clouds. The white blobs drifted lazily across the sky, dipping in and out of the leafy canopy of trees. It was a nice quite spot. No one was around, which was surprising seeing as It was the middle of summer but hey no one was complaining, and the sound of car engines murmured gently in the distance. Allen let out a contented sigh, it was nice to relax. To be fair he had just had three very hectic weeks. Allen thought he deserved a break, however there were two things stopping this from happening.

One was the pressing matter of, where they were going to go from here.

And the second, was the gentle humming coming from the boy next to him.

Allen turned to face the red head and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him, "What song is that?" the shorter asked, "I don't recognise the tune." Lavi's grin widened, if that was physically possible. "I made it up. It go's like this:

_There's a rat in my kitchen, what am I gunna do?_

_Tell Facebook, Tell Facebook._

_Trap it in the corner, and hit it with a shoe._

_Tell Facebook, Tell Facebook._

_Put it in the pot, and turn it into stew!_

_Tell Facebook, Tell Facebook._

Annnnd that's all I've got!" Lavi sung, finishing with an overly dramatic pose. Allen was looking at him like he had just sprouted seven ears and started doing the Cancan, which, knowing Lavi, he may just do. "What?" Lavi asked, running fingers across his cheeks, "Is there something on my face?" Allen let out an exasperated sigh. "You know what?" he began, running a hand through his hair and letting the silky strands weave through his fingers, "I am not even going to try to understand what is going on inside of your head. I think if I did, I may never sleep soundly again."

Lavi mock pouted, "That's meaaan Moyashi!" Allen sat up straight, turning to face the red head with a dark glare, "Don't you dare call me that as well Lavi Bookman!" Allen said angrily, he knew Lavi had done it before but it still got to him. Lavi shrunk back slightly, "Moyashi's scary too!" Allen growled, "Say that again and I will have to attack you!"

Lavi, who had been threatened at sword point before, wasn't scared at all by Allen's threat. Lavi decided to use his _insane _brilliance and confuse the poor kid. "Non non non! Je ne veux pas mourir!*" Allen looked stunned for a moment. He smirked, his silver eyes taunting, and he quickly replied, "I don't care, i'll kill you anyway. And yes, I under stood that." Lavi may have been a little surprised but that wasn't going to stop the flirtatious red head. "Uhhh ummmm ehhhh...Ah! Watashi wa nihongo de hanasu ka? Moyashi-chan."

Now that confused the white haired. However he did understand one thing, Moyashi, the dreaded word had been uttered. "Crap." whispered Lavi, realising his mistake. "Crap indeed..." Allen murmured quietly, his face getting closer to Lavi's. There breath mingled together, Lavi's eye's wide and panic filled, Allen's narrowed and staring. "A-Allen?" Lavi asked.

To an outsider this would have looked strangely suspicious. To a fan girl it would be photo worthy. Lavi was thanking God that there was no one else here!

"Hey Lavi?" Allen said, tilting his head to the side. His eyes held a mischievous twinkle in them that was only growing by the second. "Consider this payback for earlier." Lavi was, for the second time this week, found himself entirely confused. He couldn't even think of anything to say. Which, for Lavi, really was weird.

Lavi had just enough time to contemplate exactly what Allen meant, and not come up with an answer before the smaller boy pounced onto him. "Allen! Wha-wha ha ha! Ah! St-stop iiiiit! A-Alle-en!" Laughter ripped through the park, disturbing a few birds and scaring a young couple that was passing by. But to be fair it was more of a shriek than a laugh, they probably thought some one was being raped, so they ran away...courageous.

"Mercy! M-Mercy!" Pleaded Lavi, desperately trying to wiggle away from the pianists fingers. "Mercy! I WANT TO LIVE!" Cried the red head. A smile crept onto Allen's face as he stared at the pleading, hysterical rabbit boy in front of him. His red-orange hair was tousled, his forest green eye was glistening with tears of mirth. His red tee-shirt was pulled down slightly, revealing the slightly tanned skin on his collar bone, and the white SuperDry logo was folded over. Allen let out a small sigh.

"All right. All right. You get to live." Allen said, sighing. Lavi's trade mark puppy dog eye had made him crumble. Allen really was a weakling when it came to puppy dog eyes, and Lavi seemed to be a master at it. Lavi let out a sigh of relief and lent against the tree. Allen stretched out his fingers and wriggled into a more comfortable position.

"You deserved that though! Especially after that whole misunderstanding! I think I nearly died!...I still don't know why I let up..." Lavi raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Admit it! It was the puppy dog eyes...uh make that eye." Lavi grinned goofily as he corrected himself. Allen blushed and defiantly turned to face a, suddenly very interesting, park bench. Lavi snickered and placed a hand on Allen's head. "GYAH!" Allen uttered a sound of displeasure as the tall red head ruffled up his hair.

"Lavi. Leave him alone." called a very familiar voice. "Linalee!" Lavi replied, grinning and jumping to his feet. Allen face palmed when the red head fell over, it was one of those times where you push yourself up suddenly and pray you'll land on your feet, and when you do you let out a cry of triumph but as soon as you take a step you are guaranteed to fall. Sod's law.

^Playing The Part^

Lavi pulled himself up from his grassy bed just in time to spot Allen rolling his eyes. Lavi began to blush furiously, he had just made a complete fool of himself in front of Allen Walker. He didn't really understand why this seemed like such a big deal all of a sudden...

Laci turned his single, working, emerald green eye to face the approaching chinese girl. She had a smile plastered onto her face and was carying a Tesco's plastic bag. Lavi, who noticed everything, noticed that her burnt hair seemed to have more of a layered and stylised look to it now. He also noticed that Kanda was walking a few steps behind her, also carrying a cheap non-environmentally friendly plastic Tesco bag.

"H-hey Linalee! Yuu-chan!" Lavi called, stuttering on the first word because of his sheer embarrassment. "DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" shouted an irate Kanda. Lavi heard Allen chuckle behind him. Lavi ran a hand through his hair, for England, it was strangely hot today. Maybe he was just embarrassed, or was it nerves. Lavi decided to brush his thoughts aside and focus on the mysterious Tesco bags.

Linalee sat down under the tree and began to chat with Allen. Lavi smirked, Allen really did act like a girl at some points. Lavi yawned and flopped down onto the grass, vaguely paying attention as Linalee and Allen talked about the really sad story they had both read*, from what Lavi could tell it was genuinely a real tear jerker, it sounded so much better than that crap they called 'Twilight'.

"I was crying so much in the last chapter, my brother came upstairs because he thought I was in trouble!" Linale said. Allen chuckled. Lavi began to pay more attention, he was curious as to how Allen reacted. "Don't worry Linalee. I know what you mean. That book really got to me, I cried as well. I just got really connected to the characters. I felt so sorry for David! He was the only one left after it all, and he lost Ray. Man I cried like a baby when Ray died...It was just so sad..." Allen admitted.

Lavi sat up. Two thing caught his attention.

One: Allen had CRIED! That was shocking in it's self.

Two: It was a romance, but all the names they had mentioned were _Male _names...

"Linalee?" asked Lavi. Two sets of eyes turned to him, one violet and one silver. "Yes Lavi?"

"Well. I couldn't help but notice that...you said this story was a romance...and you only mentioned male names..." Lavi left the unsaid question hanging in the air.

Both Linalee and Allen turned a brilliant shade of red.

Kanda began to snigger at Lavi's incompetence. "Yes...Lavi. It was a story about..." Linalee couldn't think of how to finish the sentence. Luckily Allen came to her rescue, "It was a story revolving around two gay male couples Lavi." the smaller boy dead panned.

Lavi's lips made a small 'o' shape. "Well..." he said as an awkward silence fell across the clustered group. You could just imagine the crickets in the bushes and a lone crow flying over head. "Soooo...what's in the bags?" Lavi questioned, braking the silence and arousing a chuckled from the scarred boy.

"Oh right! The bags!" Linalee said, pulling the bags toward her. Lavi shifted on the soft yet slightly damp grass. "Oooooh I'm so excited!" he said, bobbing up and down. Allen face palmed, Linalee giggled and Kanda muttered something that sounded like "Fricken Idiot...". Linalee began to dig around in the bag. "There's no need to be excited Lavi. It's only ice cream!"

"Ice Cream it may be my dear Linalee,but what is most important, is in fact, that the just cause for Kanda, the samurai of no emotions, to strain and carry a bag, was indeed, and only, Ice Cream!" Lavi said in a matter-of-fact kind of way, taking a tub from Linalee and tucking in. There was that moment of silence that always seemed to arise after Lavi had said...anything. Three things happened at once. Linalee and Allen burst out laughing, Kanda shouted angrily at Lavi and a bus pulled up to the bus stop.

Allen pulled himself from his laughter as a blond boy stepped off the pulled up bus. The boy himself wasn't what made Allen let out a small gasp, the boy did have _amazing _hair though. No. What made Allen gasp was the AD on the side of the bus. Allen jumped to his feet. "I HAVE AN IDEA!" he shouted, catching the attention of not only his friends but also the blond boy (who incidentally quickened his pace ever so slightly), thrusting his arm in the air. "A-" began Lavi, Allen pointed furiously at the bus with his spoon.

"I have a bloody brilliant idea! That! We enter that! C'mon! The auditions are next week! Annnnd! The centre is right next to my apartment! We lug all the equipment to my place. Stay the night. Get there early in the morning. Audition. Annnnnd...We get on TV. More fans! This exactly what DGRAYMAN needs!"

"The _'Millennium' _contest?" Linalee asked. Allen nodded his head. "Shorty, That's brilliant!" Lavi cried. Jumping to his feet and throwing his arms around the smaller boy. Allen let out a sound akin to a yelp and stumbled to the side slightly. The weight of the taller boy caused them both to fall onto the grass in a heap of tangled limbs. "L-Lavi!" the white haired yelped.

"Ah! Ouch! S-Sorry Al!" The red head pulled back off the smaller boy, balancing on the balls of his feet in a crouching position. Allen propped himself up on his elbows and cocked his head to the side, thinking that Lavi resembled a wild cat ever so slightly...maybe the heat was getting to him...

Lavi turned to Linalee who still looked a little doubtful, "C'mon Linalee. This is are last chance this summer! We're working against the clock here. I mean. As soon as we get back to Uni were gunna be swamped! You're taking three sciences for crying out loud! Me and Kanda will have loads of English Lit work to do. I've got to visit the ruins of Pompei at some point. Kanda has to study Kung Fu in China. And Allen..." The red head turned to the boy who was still lying on the grass. "What exactly are you doing Allen?"

Allen sat up. "Me? I've got English Lit too and I think I have to do some study of Art in Italy and other countries." Lavi nodded his head. Suddenly a thought struck him. "Where do you go to Uni?"

"Black Order University."

"No way really?"

"Yes Lavi. I'm at the same University as you. I'm even in your class."

"Wow. I never noticed..."

Allen felt his heart sink. Lavi hadn't even noted his presence until he had joined, and even then he only cared because he thought Allen was a cute girl. There was a small pang in Allen's chest. It hurt. It was painful. It was unfair. Lavi. Lavi didn't really care...He just needed Allen for the band. For DGRAYMAN.

Allen thought Lavi would have at least noticed the white haired freak who sat two rows in front of him.

Everyone knew the freak.

Allen pushed himself to his feet. "Ah. I've got to go. Uhhhh. I have to go food shopping and it'll take me a while to get back so uhhh yeh. Well yeh. If you could call me and i'll help bring all the equipment over at some point. All right guys. Cya later" Allen turned around and walked away. Tears threatening to spring from the corners of his eyes.

Allen quickly crossed the road and began heading into town. "Allen!" Called a voice. "Hey Allen!" Allen walked a little faster, hastily raising a hand to his eye and wiping away a tear. Someone grabbed his wrist. Allen's grey eyes turned to meet the green one that belonged to the one and only Lavi Bookman. "What's up Lil'Buddy? You walked off pretty quickly then."

Allen glared coldly at his smiling face. "Let me go Lavi." The red head looked hurt, perhaps he should try feel what Allen was feeling. None the less he releases the shorters wrist. "Allen?" The boy turned away. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" Allen's shoulders tensed. "You don't even...realise do you?" he asked.

Lavi's hand rested on his shoulder, "Allen. If I did something I'm sorry. But I honestly don't think I did anything..." Allen wheeled round. "Just leave me alone! You don't get it! 'Honestly I don't think I did anything'? What the Hell! Just...I..." Allen threw his hands down by his sides in frustration.

Allen turned around and ran. He dodged past people and kept going. He didn't know if Lavi was following him. And he didn't care, or at least he'd like to say that. It was hard, when you thought your only friend didn't care.

^Playing The Part^

Allen was fumbling around in the kitchen of his apartment. He was doing anything to get his mind off Lavi. And it was a hard thing to do. He had tried A LOT of things.

TV, that didn't work.

Reading. Definite no-no.

Art, nah ah.

He went food shopping, nope.

Piano, no way in hell.

Singing, that was a faliure.

Dancing, …

FaceBook, that reminded his of the 'Rat Song'.

YouTube, he was automatically logged in as DGRAYMAN rather than The14th

Heck he even cleaned his bedroom!

In short, nothing he did was helping. So now he was trying something a little less common. He was baking a cake. It was a strange thing for an eighteen year old boy to be doing. But if it got his mind off the insensitive red head he was happy. Allen began to sing along to the radio as he worked.

"_It is the sound track to your week end, I'm Chris Skinner and this is Club Classics on Heart-"_

Allen danced along to the old songs. They may not be new but they had a bouncy rythem. Allen was glad no one else was around as he swayed his hips, and sang along, as he placed the mixture in the oven. The white haired boy shut the door with his foot and set the timer for 40 minutes. He half heartedly cleaned the work surfaces and shoved a few bowls into the dish washer. Allen slipped up onto the freshly cleaned work surface and swung his jean clad legs to the beat of Michale Jacksons 'Smooth Criminal'.

Not surprisingly, his thoughts slipped back to the red head. "Perhaps I should have been easyer on him...we have been very busy in English Literature. I just don't get what's going on inside Lavi's head sometimes...Urgh!" Allen ran a hand over his scar and through his hair. "Why can't I stay mad at him? Damn that Rabbit!..." Allen sighed. "Maybe it's not supposed to make sense." He pulled out his black mobile and looked at his pictures.

The one that caught his eye, was the one of himself and Lavi. Lavi's arm was tossed merrily around Allen's shoulders and there was a grin on both of their faces. "Maybe _your _not supposed to make sense...Lavi..." he murmured to the phone.

It would have been interesting if the phone had answered. However it didn't. Instead, the doorbell rang.

Allen pushed himself of the tabletop and walked over to the door. He opened it, wondering who the hell would need him at 10:56PM.

"Speak Of The Devil..." he murmured under his breath. "Ummm Hi Allen." Lavi said, nervously scratching the back of his neck. The two boys stood there for a moment, it was an awkward silence. Just as Allen was about to say something Lavi blurted out the words,

"Look Allen. About earlier. I'm really sorry. I realise what I did now. I said that I didn't notice you were in my class and that sounded really...well mean. But what I meant was it hadn't dawned on me that it was you. I mean I _knew _it was you. Who else has white hair? Ah Sorry! That sounded really bad...but I guess what I meant was, I knew it was you but it just kind of slipped my mind. No not that. That sounded bad to. Allen I-"

The boy in question began to smile. "Lavi." he said gently, cutting the taller boy off. "I know what you mean. I should apologize too. I overreacted. I'm sorry." A smile spread across Lavi's face. "So you forgive me?" he asked. Allen nodded. Lavi smiled even wider and Allen could have sworn he saw a slight blush on the red heads face.

Suddenly Lavi enveloped the smaller boy in a tight man-hug. "Thanks Allen!" Allen smiled and patted him on the back. He could feel his face reddening and hoped Lavi didn't notice. He inhaled Lavi's sent, it was a mixture of deodorant (he was near Lavi's chest after all), guitar polish and, what he thought was, cinnamon. "Lavi? Can you let me go please? Having a hard time breathing..."

Lavi chuckled and released the shorter boy. "Well I guess I'll see ya around then Al." He was about to leave when Allen said, "Y-You can stay...If you want. It's late and I guess I'm returning the favour." Lavi smiled, "I'll take you up one the offer then!" Allen grinned and led the taller boy into his apartment. Lavi sniffed the air as the door was closed, "What cha cookin?" he asked. "Cake" Allen replied simply, flicking on a light switch and walking into the kitchen. "Lavi? Could you take your shoes off please? And just throw your jacket on the sofa if you want."

Lavi complied with Allen's requests and then wondered into the kitchen. Lavi noticed that the radio was on. Allen was bent over, pulling a cake dish out of the oven. "It's not burnt is it?" Lavi asked. Making the smaller jump slightly. "No, I think it's fine..." Lavi noticed that Allen looked adorable in those big Oven Gloves. " We just need to wait for it to cool, before we put the icing on." Lavi nodded his head, he glanced over at the recipe book that was on the side.

Allen was pulling various ingredients out of cupboards and setting them on the side. Lavi began to mix them together. "Oh Lavi. You don't have to do that. You're a guest." Allen said, withdrawing his head,and turning to the rabbit boy. Lavi shook his head as if to say 'no problem, it's fine'. Allen shrugged his shoulders and set about washing up the 'Big Bowl'...seriously it actually said 'Big Bowl' on the bowl.

After a few moments, Allen snuck up behind Lavi and dipped his finger into the icing mixture. "Hey!" Lavi exclaimed. Wheeling round to meet the guilty looking boy. "My cake, My rules." Allen said simply. Lavi turned away and mumbled something about beansprouts.

Allen pulled himself onto a stool and watched Lavi for a moment. Taking note of how his hair moved when he stirred the topping.

Lavi really was very handsome, it wasn't a surprise all the girls fell for him.

Allen felt yet another pang. Lavi probably had a girlfriend, or at least a love interest. He was so different to Allen. Lavi looked like he spent a lot of time in the sun, with his slightly tanned skin and his shiny red hair, he was popular, happy, funny and an all round ball of sunshine. Allen however was different. He was so pale he looked like a vampire, his hair was white adding to the pale effect, he didn't have many friends, he was funny and happy but that was nothing compared to Lavi Bookman.

Allen sighed. Lavi glanced up at him, "What's up?" he asked, concern hinted in his voice. "Hmmm? Oh nothing...I was just think that you must have tons of girls hanging on your every word..."In truth Allen hadn't actually meant to say that, but it was out there now. Floating around in the outside world, where people we free to do whatever they wanted with it. Allen smacked a hand over his mouth.

"Ooooh! You mean like _you _are right now?" Lavi said, smirking at the white haired boy. "Ah! N-no! N-never mind!" Allen waved his hands around, his face turning a brilliant shade of red. Lavi snickered. "_You're _not falling for me are you?~" Lavi called tauntingly in a sing-song voice. Allen turned his face away and punched the red head in the shoulder, "Just shut up and stir!"

"Done!" he exclaimed triumphantly. Allen laughed. Lavi began to do a small dance, "Alright Allen. To prove we are now forgiven we will sing and dance to the next song! No buts!" Allen exasperatedly shook his head. "Whatever you say Lavi."

Both boys waited for a few moments.

_'All right. Next up we have a real classic. 'Accidentally In Love' by Counting Crows..._

Allen mentally hit himself with a brick.

"Ah well! Lets sing Lil'Buddy!" Lavi said, grinning like the mad thing he was. Allen stayed quite for a moment. Just watching. However as soon as the ever happy boy began to sing, he burst into fits of laughter.

"_So she said what's the problem Baby? What's the problem? I dunno well maybe I'm in Love! "_

Lavi reached out and grabbed Allen's wrist. Pulling him along and making him dance. "C'mon Sing!"

"_I think about it...Every time I think about it...Can't stop thinking about it!"_

Allen let out a few more strangled laughs, before falling slave to Lavi's enthusiasm.

"_How much longer will it take to cure this? Just to cure it cause I can't ignore it if it's love..Makes me want to turn around and face me but I don't know nothing 'bout love!"_

Lavi began to make up strange actions to the lyrics. Spinning Allen into himself on _"Turn a little faster'. _Jumping. 'Bay Watch' running. But what made Allen crack up was when Lavi turned the lights up at _'And the worlds a little brighter'_

"_I'm in love!"_

By the end of it. Allen was gasping for breath and his anger at Lavi was completely forgotten. "You see! It worked! All is forgiven _and _the cake's cooled!Everything is O-K!" Lavi smiled gently at the other boy. "I guess you're right..." Allen had to admit, Lavi always came up with the best things. Allen Walker smiled fondly at the red head. For some reason, he could never stay mad a Lavi. That emerald eye that glinted with the light of a thousand suns. And the smile which made Allen feel safe.

"I'm always right!"

"Whatever you say Lavi..."

^Playing The Part^

Lavi was collapsed next to Allen on the black sofa. They had spent a few minutes icing the cake, and had gotten extremely sticky in the process. Lavi, for some reason, felt he was much closer to Allen.

Lavi had a theory: All good friendships had to have one fight, and if you forgave each other then you were fine. It was a good theory to live by. However he still felt as if Allen was keeping one important thing from him. And for some reason, the conversation about the book kept returning to his head.

There was a question he felt he needed to ask, but it was a delicate question. It was one that could brake them apart if he, himself, reacted the wrong way. But it was a question, he felt needed to be asked. "Hey Allen..." he said. A pair of doe grey eyes turned to look at him. Lavi gulped nervously, "Ummm...well it dawned on me earlier...uhhh...I just felt like I needed to ask this...but...um...are...are you..." Lavi couldn't get the words out. However, Allen seemed to get the idea, somehow.

"You want to ask me if I'm gay, right?"

Lavi sheepishly nodded his head. Allen chuckled, "I was surprised you didn't ask when me and Linalee were talking about the book...but yeh...I am. I hope that doesn't make you feel awkward or anything..."Allen said the last bit quietly. He seemed sad, but also in anticipation of something. "Nah. It's cool. I'm not like weirded out or anything..." Lavi mumbled. Allen smirked and turned back to the TV. Himself and Lavi were waiting for _'Merlin' _to start.

"Really?" he asked. The smirk remained on his face, dancing playfully across his lips. "Yeh. It's like totally cool dude...why are you laughing?" the red head had a look of confusion spread across his features, and all of this confusion was directed at the boy doubled over and laughing. Lavi couldn't help but notice that Allen really was adorable. "Hahaha, sorry Lavi!...It's just I can _tell _you're weirded out."

"Wha? No i'm not!" Lavi said, gaping at the smaller boy. Allen turned to face him. "You are. I know because: A: You just called me 'Dude'. You never call me dude. Lil'Buddy, yeh...but never dude. And B: You said 'like'. Only chavs say like for absolutely no reason. You do not...but it's fine. Everyone's like that when they first find out." Allen smiled kindly and patted the taller boy on the shoulder. "Man, I can read you like a Book." he said.

Lavi snorted, "That was a terrible joke." Allen punched him playfully in the arm, "It's not my fault you have such a funny name." Lavi gaped at him. "Hey! That's mean you know! Why I ought ta-Mmpf?" Allen smacked a hand across the red heads loud mouth. He raised a finger to his own pink lips saying, "Shhhhh! Merlin's starting." There was silence.

…...

"EWWW! YOU LICKED ME?" Allen cried, jumping away and furiously wiping his hand on his trouser leg. Lavi laughed, "Hey! I couldn't breath!" Allen grubled something or other and kicked the red head in the shin. "Youch!" Lavi exclaimed, gripping his shin in an overly dramatic Lavi-like way, "You're a little sadist! You know that right?" Allen smiled sweetly, "Yeh. I know."

The two boys focused their gaze back to the programme. Lavi would occasionally glance over at his friend. He was surprised to find that he wasn't that surprised on finding out Allen was...well gay. To be perfectly honest, Lavi didn't think anything could surprise him any more. Sometimes Lavi wondered if he just attracted abnormality. Sometimes he really felt like crying out, "Why do these things always happen to me?"

Let's start with Kanda. Lavi had met Kanda in Year Nine, age 13. Now, for some strange reason, Lavi had self proclaimed himself Kanda's 'best friend'. And that really was weird, because all Kanda ever did was call him an 'idiotic loser rabbit'...yeh thirteen year old Kanda was still cruel, but not that imaginative. However, Kanda put up with Lavi none the less. They were closer in Year 10, distracted at the end of it and in Year 11. In Year 12, or Sixth Form, Lavi had stayed on at his school. Where as Kanda had gone off to study at another.

Strangely enough the two boys both ended up in the same university studying English Literature. Odd.

Linalee had been where the whole band started. Lavi had been aimlessly wondering the halls, waiting for his next History lecture, when he had stumbled upon Linalee. The pigtailed girl had been playing Bass in a disused room. Lavi had thought she was simply brilliant and quickly befriended her. It was shocker to find out she was taking three sciences and even more of a shocker when he found out her brother was only _Head Of The Science Section_! That's not exactly something you leave out!

From then on they roped Kanda in on the whole idea...and well the rest is History.

Allen. Well Allen Walker was Allen Walker. Linalee had obviously found his YouTube account and talked from then on. And apparently he and Kanda had been working at Fresh together since they started University. Strange how these things connect... And Allen had also been in Lavi's English Lit...he really did feel like an idiot, a stupid, insensitive, thick headed, idiot, for not realising that the quite, small, white haired boy in his English class was Allen. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Oh, not to mention he had only recently discovered Allen was gay.

Normally. The ever smart Lavi would have been able to figure out these things...but he just seemed to loose his cool around the white haired teen. It was a new feeling for Lavi. Having absolutely no control over the situation, when actually, the situation was as plain as day.

Lavi sighed and leaned back in his seat. Allen eyed him curiously, concern and confusion hinted in his eyes. Lavi shot him a winning smile which said, 'I'm all right. Don't worry about me.' Allen however, saw through his mask. Yet another thing that was new to Lavi. No-one saw through his mask.

"I guess i'm just nervous about the auditions..." he said sighing slightly. Allen nodded his head in understanding. "You know. The Mop Fair is on that evening...it would be a good way to, either celebrate or cheer ourselves up. Me, You, Linalee and Kanda should go...I mean it's spread all the way through out the town so it's not like we'd get any sleep anyway..." Allen suggested. Lavi grinned wildly. "Yeh! Defiantly! It'll be fun!" Allen smilled and asked, "Are you going to go on Buzzin~?" Lavi shook his head furiously. No one in their right mind went on Buzzin! And...Lavi had his own reasons.

"Why not! You're not chicken are you?" Allen teased, even though Lavi knew full well Allen wouldn't be going on it either. Lavi shook his head, blushing furiously and mumbeling something to his lap.

"Sorry Lavi. I didn't quite catch that."

"I...I'm scared of heights..."

Allen looked like he was about to laugh. However he threw his arms around the red head in an over exaggerated hug, "Awwww~ Poor baby~" he exclaimed. This earned him a punch in the arm and a playful yet:

"Oh! Shut up Allen!"

^Playing The Part^

AUTHORS NOTE: Well well the real story is starting now! Next chapter should be up realativly shortly buuuuuut it will be very very short!

Kitchen Rat song by Spike (aka my dad)

French= "No no no! I don't want to die!"

* This story is a story on . It's called This Is How It Ends and it's a Yullen. I changed the names for this but go read This Is How It Ends! It's amazing! Saddest thing EVAH!

*Chris Skinner is a real person and does present Club Classics on HeartFM.

*Deat god! If you do not watch Merlin you are missing out sooooo much! Go look it up on BBCiplayer! Of course you would only be able to watch series three...but still! Go Go Now!

* Search Tewkesbury Mop Fair, and you'll know what i'm talking about. Search Buzzin after that too if u want.

*NOTE THIS STORY IS NOT SET IN TEWKESBURY! I JUST USED THE FAIR!


	8. A Weeks Worth Of Mayhem

CHAPTER EIGHT: A Weeks Worth Of Mayhem. 

MONDAY:

_Theme Song Of The Day: Fireflies – Owl City_

Lavi awoke that morning to the sound of the radio. He curled onto his side in a desperate attempt to block out the noise and return to the beautiful world of dreams. He had been having a rather strange dream. Bookman had attached a rocket to the back of a push bike. He then rode to Mars and never came back, apparently dieing in the outer reaches of space.

Okay so maybe that wasn't the _best _dream to go back to. But anything was better than the cold clutches of the day...even if it was 23 degrees outside. "C'mon Lavi! Get up!" said a voice. The red head groggily opened his eyes to gaze at a potted plant. "Nooooo." he moaned, "Five more minutes please, Mr Potted Plant."

Lavi was not a morning person.

"What? Potted Plant?...Oh jeeze Lavi! Just get up!" the voice said again. Foot steps faded away and the sound of a door opening was clearly heard. "Fine. Im'up. Im'up. Bloody Potted Plants, can't let a guy sleep in..." he mumbled. Sitting up and wiping sleep from his eyes. He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Yo!" he called, looking around. "Where'd ya go Mr Potted Plant?"

A chuckle came from a room directly to his left. "Over here, oh sleepy rabbit!" Lavi jumped around and trotted lazily towards the door. "What'cha doin in here Bean-whoa!" Lavi exclaimed.

"Bean-Whoa?...That's a new one." he mused.

Lavi just stood there in shocked silence. Looking like a rather stunned fish. What he saw, was not what he expected to find.

The room he was standing in was an office-sized room, meaning it was small but not overly so. What was amazing, was that the _whole _room was _filled _with art! Paint brushes, pencils, charcoal, oil paint, acrylics, paper, canvases and even one of those mannequin things. Allen himself, was sat at a desk. Hair spiked up, sleeves rolled up, paint brush in hand and eyes focused on paper.

"Hamster Steak." Allen stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?"

"It got you to talk again didn't it?...anyways I _told _you. I'm taking Art. It's only obvious I'd have some stuff..." Allen mumbled. Wiping the blue paint off the slim brush and placing it in a glass of water. The white haired boy rose gracefully from his chair, tugging a large, paint coverd, black shirt over his head and chucking it lazily aside. He walked forward and gently brushed past Lavi...whom was still standing in slight shock, looking somewhat like a lamp post.

"Lavi! If you want any break...okay lunch... If you want any lunch stop standing around like a lost puppy!" Allen called. Lavi blinked his eye a few times before turning on the spot and heading towards the sound of the whitehaired's voice. He found the boy in the kitchen, studying a calender that was hung on the wall. "Yo Allen!"...

"You do realise," Lavi said, roughly half an hour later, "That is already three in the afternoon...we're gunna have to do some major rehearsal tomorrow!" He thumped his fist onto the table. "That's fine."Allen said, smiling towards the red head. "I'm looking forward to it!"

TUESDAY:

_Theme Song Of The Day: Looking Up - Paramore _

"_Is anybody listening?..."_

The last notes of the song drifted to a halt. Lavi was panting slight. Sweat was glistening on his brow and dripped slightly off his red hair. He was secretly thankfull he had worn a green Tank-Top today, instead of his tee-shirt. He turned to face his Band Mates who were probably worse for wear.

Linalee's legs were trembling and she looked like she was about to drop at any minute. Kanda's arms hung limply by his sides, drum sticks slipping from his grip. Allen was leant up against the wall, his fingers were flexing in experimentation and clicked every time.

Maybe, after six straight hours, it was time to call it a day.

Lavi stumbled over to his guitar stand, three sets of eyes folowing his moves. He carefully place the valuable instrument back. The red head turned to face his friends, "That. Is enough." and with those words he slumped onto the floor. Stretching out like a cat and breathing heavily.

He heard the thuds of Allen, Linalee and Kanda as they dropped to the floor. "Never. Make. Us. Do. That. Again." Allen said between pants. Lavi chuckled weakly, running a hand through his hair. Kanda and Linalee were murmuring to each other about something or other. Lavi twitched his foot slightly. Something soft and fuzzy brushed against it.

"What's touching me foot?" he asked. Ever so slightly creeped out.

"Wild Hamster."

"What?"

"A Wild Hamster. Their quite common in the Bristol Area."

"We're not even in Bristol."

"They Migrate for the Summer..."

Lavi laughed and hauled himself to his feet. He turned his gaze to the small white haired boy who was curled up on his side. Allen's face was flushed and his gaze turned up to meet Lavi's. The red head immediately felt a slight blush arise because of the cute boy. It shouldn't be physically possible for a boy his own age to be _that_ adorable.

He reached out a hand and pulled Allen up saying, "C'mon. I think we need to get you some sugar, you're going mental." Allen glared at him, which was ruined completely when he yawned. "S'not my fault...you made us practice for six hours...and you brought and apartment in the hamster migration area...not me...you." he muttered.

Lavi heard Linalee chuckle from the other side of the room. Kanda snorted, "Moyashi really is an idiot." Allen turned to glare at him. "My names Allen!"

Lavi shook his head in exasperation. He swung an arm around Allen's shoulders, "C'mon Allen. Ignore Yu-Chan. He's just being a sourpuss." Allen giggled. Not chuckled. Giggled. Lavi could practically _guarantee _that his face was as red as a tomato. But hey! It wasn't his fault! Allen was just to darn cute!

Kanda's head shot up at the mention of his first name. "Ah we better run Al! Or we'll have to face the wrath of Yu!"

Allen stumbled a little as he was dragged into the other room. In all truth he found it amazing how Lavi could still joke around after six hours of singing. Allen smiled, Lavi was a strange yet oddly charming person. He always saw the brighter side of things.

"What is it with you and Hamsters?" Lavi asked, chucking a Yorkie bar at Allen. Allen caught it deftly and tilted his head to the side, prompting Lavi for an explanation.

"Yesterday. When you wanted my attention you said, and I quote: Hamster Steak. And just now you talked about wild Hamsters...Why?"

Allen shrugged his shoulders. "I just think Hamsters are funny creatures...but honestly i'm surprised you remembered slash noticed." Lavi's ears pricked up at this. "Of course I remembered! Not only am I Bookman _but _I am your best friend in the world."

'Best Friend'

Those words truly stung Lavi's heart. They didn't seem quite right. It was almost as if something was missing...however these motions of the heart always seemed to elude the persistent red head.

No one truly understood their own thoughts and/or the thoughts of others. If there was such a person out there, they would probably try to rule the world, go mad with power and 'The Voices In Their Head', make sure all the statues in the world were pointing north-east, stamp out Belgium because they have a phobia of Crepe's, make their 'Trusted Adviser' some named 'Alfred William Griffin', eventually wage war on 'The Fish People', have their ship sunken by the Elves who were getting information from Alfred, fall into the ocean and wash up on the shores of Hawaii only to die in the arms of the only man who ever loved them.

In other words. If that person did exist. They were all screwed...well that is until Alfred, who was actually called Karim, infiltrated and then-...well you get it.

Lavi looked up to meet the stare of Allen, who smiled. "Only three more days." Lavi said, holding up three fingers to emphasise his point. Allen grinned at him, reaching across the empty space to give Lavi a much needed high five.

WEDNESDAY:

_Theme Song Of The Day: Halfway There – Big Time Rush_

"ALLEEEEEEEEEEN WALLLLLLLKEEEER!" shouted an obnoxiously loud voice. Said boy whipped his head around abruptly. Recognising that voice in an instant. "L-Lavi?"he asked none the less, not wanting to be rude if he was wrong. The red head waved joyously at him and bounded over.

Allen was standing in the middle of the 'Arcade', or shopping centre. He had three bags in his hands and had clearly been shopping. Just before Lavi had, seemingly, appeared out of no where the eighteen year old had been heading towards Costa Coffee. After all no student could live without there coffee. Especially not an art student. It was common knowledge.

"Yo! Lil'Buddy! What you doin' in the Arcade?" Lavi asked, thumping the petite boy on the back and nearly pushing him over in the process. "I could ask you the same question..." Allen mumbled, vividly aware that they were drawing attention. "Point taken! Soooo, what's my favourite little pianist doing so far from his hidden art studio?" Lavi exclaimed, clearly not bothered by the attention.

Allen looked around, blushing furiously. He caught the gaze of a teenage girl. She raised and eyebrow and gave him a sympathetic look, gesturing at the boy beside her as if to say _'I know how you feel.' _Allen smiled back at her before turning to Lavi, who incidentally was _still _making a scene. Allen sighed and gripped the red heads wrist, dragging him in the direction he had previously been going.

"Lavi! You prick! You're sooooo embarrassing!" Allen whined. Lavi chuckled and swung an arm across Allen's shoulders. "That's my job remember!" Allen turned to him briefly and grumbled something. Lavi snickered, which earned him a kick in the shin.

"Where were you going anyway?" Lavi asked. Allen sighed, turned to the right and walked into the Coffee Shop. Lavi made an 'ooooooooh' sound as the bell tinkled on their entry. Allen rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. Lavi was such an odd being.

A few minutes later the two boys were sat opposite each other, chatting idly about friday. "I'm really nervous!" Lavi exclaimed. Allen smiled over his mug. "You'll be fine Lavi." The red head shook his head. "No. No. No! What if I forget my words or my voice cracks or I sing the wrong song or what if I-"

"Lavi!" Allen said, cutting of the taller boy. Allen reached across the table and reassuringly placed a hand over Lavi's, "You'll be fine. Trust me. I know you. You'll do brilliant." Lavi smiled back at him, a definite look of appreciation on his face. The scarred boy looked at him gently. Slowly Allen removed his had, lingering just longer than was necessary.

THURSDAY:

_Theme Song Of The Day: Insomnia – Craig David_

Lavi flopped down tiredly onto his bed. He was so tired, his limbs felt like lead and his mind was foggy. All he really wanted to do was sleep. However, tomorrow was the day. The day they either made it, or they went back to how they were before.

This played on Lavi's mind. Depriving him of his much needed sleep and keeping away the sweet bliss of dreams. Lavi sighed angrily. He _Really _should be sleeping.

It was just infuriating! "Dammit! I need to get some God Damn Fricken Sleep!" Lavi let out a frustrated growl. If he wasn't going to sleep he at least needed a distraction...

"Hello?"

"Hey Allen It's Lavi!"

"Yah. I know. But _why _are you calling?"

"No...reason?"

"Uhhuh?"

"Ehhhhhmm"

"Couldn't sleep?"

"...yeh."

Allen let out a short laugh. His voice muffled by the phone.

"I can tell. You sound like you're about to drop dead at any moment!"

"Thanks Mate. That makes me feel _much _ better."

"Hey it's not my fault!"

"Yeh yeh. I know. Im just teasing my little Moyashi~"

"MY NAMES ALLEN!"

Lavi rapidly drew the phone away from his ear. That boy could shout LOUD!

"Not. So. Loud! You big goof!"

"S-sorry"

"Soooooo"

"Sooooooooo"

"Bra"

"Bra?"

"That's right. Bra."

"What?"

"I...have no idea..."

"Are you actually a girl Allen?"

"Oh shut it!"

Lavi snickered. Allen growled but was interrupted with a _huge _yawn from the red head.

"You should go to bed."

"I'm rolling my eyes at you right now. _I can't sleep!_"

"You could try now."

"But-"

"Lavi. No offence but we do not want you collapsing on stage. Kay."

"Jeez. You're scary, dude."

"You're calling me dude again! You're tired!"

"No im not!"

"Lavi."

"Yes?"

"Sleep."

"But-"

"Good night."

"Wait!"

"...what now?"

"I got you to stay!"

"Lavi!"

"Ok. Ok. I just wanted to say thanks for being there."

"..."

"Allen?"

"h-huh? O-h. T-thanks. Lavi. I really appreciate that. A-and, you've being doing amazing you're self."

"Thank you."

"Now. Go. To. Bed!"

"Fine. Fine. Cya tomorrow!"

"Bye, Lavi."

"Bye Allen..."

"..."

"..."

"Lavi why are you still on the line?"

"Uhhhhh..."

"Go to bed...or else."

"Alright...I don't want to die at the hands of a white haired ninja pianist."

"Uhuh...Good Night Lavi."  
"Night."

FRIDAY:

_Theme song of the day: Hot Mess – Cobra Starship_

Lavi twisted his hands nervously in his lap, toying with the hem of his shirt. The four members of were waiting in the large hall that was 'the waiting area' of the Millennium Contest. Now that Lavi was actually here...he was scared! He was very very scared. His feet were tapping to the tune of _'Brick By Boring Brick'. _Allen reached over and squeezed his hand gently, smiling up at the taller boy. The eye-patched-fool gave him a grateful lopsided smile.

"Hello. My names Chomesuke. I'm the presenter and here to interview you." Lavi looked up to meet the gaze of the very pretty brown haired presenter. He then noticed the cameras. He shot them his winning smile. "That's fine by us. Do you're thing TV people!"

^PlayingThePart^

"Good Luck Guys." Chomesuke whispered, patting each band member on the back as they made their way onto stage. Lavi could feel his heart racing. However he pulled on his poker face and setting his trainer clad foot on the stage. (they had ditched the elaborate costumes). His eyes widened as he noted the size of the audience. There were thousands of them! Everywhere! Starring! AT HIM! Lavi gulped, pulling himself to gether, and looked over at the others who were calmly making their way over to the Instruments.

Lavi strode over to the microphone and faced the judges. They were more frightening than the crowd. On his left there was Winters Zocalo, world renown rapper who had sold over 50 billion albums. Next to him was a tall woman with blond hair. This was Cloud Nine, female solo artist for four years and was already known in every country of the world. And next to her was the famous pianist Neah. Neah leaned towards his microphone and asked, "Who are you?" Lavi quickly composed himself and replied.

"We're DGRAYMAN." Neah nodded his head, the other judges noting it down on paper. "And what are your names?" the black haired man asked. "I'm Lavi Bookman." Lavi said, smiling his trademark smile. "I'm Linalee Lee." Linalee chimed in, leaning to her mic. "Kanda Yu" Kanda said simply. "And I'm Allen Walker." Allen said, smiling politely.

"You may begin." Neah stated.

Lavi gripped the microphone with one hand as he heard Kanda tap them in. Quickly his hands flew down to the red guitar around his middle, strumming out the music and readying himself for song.

_'She lives in a fairytale somewhat to far for us to find._

_Forgotten the taste and smell of a world that she's left behind.'_

Lavi looked up to stare at the crowd. He was amazed. They were clapping along with the drums and genuinely looked as if they were having a good time.

_'It's all about the exposure, the lens that's older. _

_The angles are all wrong now, she's ripping wings off of butterflies.'_

He could see the cameras sweeping around, recording his every movement.

_'Keep your feet on the ground._

_When your heads in the clouds'_

Lavi was smiling. He was fully into the song now. His surroundings faded away until it felt like it was just him and his friends. Back in their little music room in his apartment. Laughing with each other as they sung their hearts out. Lavi decided to try something he hadn't tried before. There was a moment at the end of the song, where he just said:

_'Bada ba bada ba ba da.'_

He raised his arms from the guitar. Clapping into the microphone. The large crowd clapped in unison creating one of the most fantastic things he had ever seen...from a music point of view obviously.

He struck the last note, kicking one leg out slightly from the force. Quickly he turned around to see Allen beaming at him. As the aplause died down, and after Kanda, Linalee and Allen had made their way over to the front of the stage. The judges began to speak:

"I think," Cloud Nine said, smiling at the band, "That you are very good. You have amazing potential and you definitely have a great look. For those reasons, and more, I'm going to say. Yes." A large green tick sprung into existance at the back of the stage, casting a green glow across the nervous band members. Lavi reached down and grabbed Allen and Linalee's hand. Squezing them tightly.

The next to speak was Zocalo. "You definitely have potential, as Cloud pointed out. If you go through I would like to see some new songs from you. Yes."

Lavi's heart was racing now.

Calmly Neah began to talk, " I think you have a great sound. And you're all very skilled in your instruments. From pianist to pianist, Allen. You are an amazing player. I think you have more surprises for us...for that reason. Yes."

Cheers erupted from the crowd. Lavi spun around and engulfed his friends in a bone crushing hug. "Lavi! You were brilliant!" Allen said. Through sheer excitement, the red head hugged the smaller boy. Spinning him in a circle."So were you!"

"Thank you so much!" they all said, even Kanda...it was his dream too. The four of them ran off stage. Running into Chomesuke and hugging her aswell.

The four band members ran from the hall. Hope high in their hearts. Smiles on their faces and the promise of a chance in their minds.

"WE DID IT!" Lavi cheered.

Allen broke into fits of giddy laughter, soon followed by Linalee and Lavi. Kanda shook his head and chuckled slightly. They were tired and slightly sweaty but they didn't care.

They had a chance. And that was all that mattered.

^PlayingThePart^

AUTHORS NOTE:

I own none of the songs. Or the characters. And yes. Zocalo and Cloud are OOC but who cares! My story my rules! (lol my cake my rules).

Ah. 'Sooooooo...Bra': Yes another thing me and my chums say at school, if there's an awkward silence some one goes 'soooooooo' and another replies 'bra'.

Yes. I have nearly finished the next chapter and should be up shortly.

Oh c'mon. Of course they were going to get through! We wouldn't have a story If they didn't, ne?

Pleaseeeee put up with my slow updating and my strange imagination! I will see you next chapter!

Oh in previous chapters it may have said -man as the name...i have no idea WHY did that to it but ut is DGRAYMAN! K.


	9. Oh When The Saints!

CHAPTER NINE: Oh When The Saints!

Lavi ran from Allen's house with a tremendous yell off, "I CAN'T BELIEVE WE DID IT!" Linalee and Allen burst out in excited laughter, even Kanda was grinning. Lavi turned around quickly and enveloped the other three band members in a tight hug. "I can't believe we did it!" he said again, jumping with excitement. "How many times are you going to say that Lavi?" Allen asked, smiling anyway.

Lavi picked up the smaller boy bridal style and swung him in a circle. "L-Lavi?" Allen exclaimed, griping onto the shirt of the red head for fear of being dropped, he didn't want to get hurt _before _ he went on any rides. "I'm going to keep saying it until it's proven untrue!" The red head danced around carrying the white haired, blushing, teen.

Lavi could here Linalee giggling. But right now he didn't care. He was way to happy. "TO THE FAIR!" He cried, running towards the huge rides. "Lavi! Put me down!" Allen squeaked. Linalee grabbed Kanda's wrist and pulled him after the two boys who were, not surprisingly, attracting A LOT of attention. "Let's go Kanda!" Linalee said, smiling up at the taller boy. And then adding as an after thought, "Before they hurt themselves..."

^Playing The Part^

"Laviiiiiiiiiii~!" Allen whined, finally grasping the red heads attention. A single green eye focused on the short boy in his arms. "Please let me down!" Lavi began to blush furiously, he had been so excited he hadn't noticed he'd ran straight into the middle of the fair...

Holding...

Allen...

In...

His...

Arms...?

Oh.

Whoops!

Lavi gently set the boy down. "Sorry...I was...Over excited?". Allen brushed himself down, and raised an eye brow. "Whatever...Lets go on some rides!" Allen punched a fist in the air. Soon followed by Linalee's and Lavi's...but not Kanda's.

Lavi looked around nervously, secretly hoping no one suggested FreakOut or SuperBowl...

The four friends practically skip- okay they _did _ skip down the road. Infact they were arm in arm, singing _'Were off to see the Waltzers! The wonderful Waltzers of Mop!'. _To be fair, they did attract some very odd looks.

For starters, they were all singing. Secondly, Allen's hair was reflecting every single colour of light that was blazing from the rides. Thirdly, Lavi was swaying his hips so much to the loud music that was prominent on the air, someone could possibly mistake him for Shakira. Fourth, Linalee was wearing a pair of very short shorts and was attracting a lot of stares from drunken men. And Fifth, they were skipping around like a bunch of seven year old girls.

Well...all of them were singing and skipping aside from Kanda. He was just being unwillingly dragged.

Finally, after pushing through flood loads of people. They reached the Waltzers. Lavi was fine with the Waltzers. They just spun. Really fast. G-Force was fine, heights not so cool. They paid for the tickets and waited for the next round to start. Lavi bounced up and down, he really liked the fair. It was a shame it didn't come more often.

Everything was a blur as Allen dragged Lavi into a cart, shortly followed by Linalee and Kanda. Lavi and Kanda were on the out side, Allen and Linalee in the middle. _"ARE YOU R-R-READY!" _shouted a man's voice. This was shortly followed by a series of screams. Lavi joined in, punching his fist in the air. Allen laughed, looking up at the red head through black lashes. Lavi grinned down at the small white haired boy.

Abruptly, the cart began to move and all thoughts were wiped from Lavi's head. One of the fair workers grabbed the side of the cart, turning it with enough force to cause Allen to slip around on the plastic bench. Lavi had to close his eye, looking at so many strobe lights blurring together was a little nauseating. The sound of music filled his ears, mingling with excited screams and the loud speaker voices. Laughter racked his body. If this were any place but the fair people would think he was a nutter...well _more _ of a nutter.

Lavi felt a dull weight on his leg but couldn't open his eyes.

The ride began to slow down. Leaving Lavi feeling very dizzy and slightly sick. The tall boy opened his eye and peered down at the source of the weight. It was Allen. Because of his petite frame and the momentum of the cart, he had turned sideways and his head thrown onto Lavi's lap. "S-sorry!" Allen started, jumping from the cart and nearly falling over in the progress. Lavi laughed, following his three friends off of the ride.

"It's okay Al...Where to next?"

"Urgh. Give me five minutes Lavi. I'm really dizzy." Linalee groaned, clutching her head slightly and making her way over to a deserted wall. Allen joined her, swinging his slender legs casually in the air. Kanda made a grunting sound and began to straighten out his low pony-tail. Lavi blinked a few times, trying to clear his head.

"How about we go on the MegaDance next?" Allen suggested after a few minutes of wallowing in the atmosphere. The silver eyed boy glanced over at Lavi as if to say, "Are you okay with that?" Lavi nodded his head, red hair flopping lazily around his face. "MegaDance it is then." Linalee said, standing up and scanning the large area. "I think...It's...THERE!" she pointed excitedly at the far side of the crowd.

The four students began to weave through the crowds. "Don't get lost Allen~" Lavi teased. Allen rolled his eyes and dutifully followed close behind the red head. There was an abrupt surge of chavs. Lavi felt a pair of hands gripped around his wrist. "A-ah Sorry Lavi! I just didn't want to get absorbed by the gold ya know..." Allen said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. Lavi laughed, "It's okay buddie! Wouldn't want you to turn chav on me would I!" Allen grinned up at him.

Lavi dragged the smaller boy through the large crowd and caught up with the two Asians. The two boys paid a shifty looking woman the right money and slipped into the seats next to their friends. "LET IT BEGIN!"the red head shouted, making a complete idiot out of himself but not really caring anyway.

^Playing The Part^

Roughly ten minutes later the four friends found themselves standing in front of the SuperBowl. And Lavi was shaking like a leaf. There was no way he was going on that thing. Basically it was the Walzers...however the platform it was on went _vertical_!

In a way it was foolish. Lavi felt like such a coward, watching all the fourteen year olds go on on all the rides that scared the living day lights out of him. From what the red head could here, it sounded like Allen and Kanda were planing to go on this one while Linalee skipped out.

"You coming Baka Usagi?" Kanda asked harshly. Allen shot him an apologetic look, Lavi looked back at him and winked. "Nah. That's okay. I'll skip this one out. Gotta protect Lina-Lady ya know!" Allen nodded his head, white hair glimmering in the electric lights.

Lavi watched quietly as his two friends found a cart. He really did wish he could go on those rides, and have fun, but he was just to scared. "Hey. I'm just gunna go talk to Miranda, Kay." Linalee said, waving her hand as she walked towards a brown haired girl. The red head nodded, even though he knew the girl would not be able to see him.

Lavi crossed his arms and lent lazily on the safety rail, his green eye flicking around, following the movement of Allen's cart. From what he could see, the boy was having a good time. His white hair was flying around in the air and his arms were thrown above his head. Lavi couldn't help but chuckle slightly at he smaller's antics, he was acting like a fourteen year old on a sugar rush.

As the ride slowed down his olive haired companion walked back over to him. "You okay Lavi?" she asked. The red head nodded, shooting the girl on of his wining smiles. Abruptly Allen fell into him. "Whoa! You dizzy little'buddy?" Lavi asked, slightly shocked that the smaller boy was pressed up against his chest. "J-just a little!"

Lavi shook his head exasperatedly. "How about we go on Terminator?" Linalee suggested. Lavi couldn't help but sigh as the relief washed over him. It wasn't high in the air. "Sounds great Lina-Lady! Let us go forth!" Lavi said, dramatically posing and pointing an arm at the fast ride. Allen laughed, "Lavi you're so weird!" The red head turned to him, green eye blazing. "But your life would be so boring if I was normal."

Allen began to weave through the large crowds, making his way towards Terminator, Lavi following close behind. Once again Lavi Bookman found himself crammed into a small cart next to the ever-adorable Allen Walker. "This is gunna be fun! G-FORCE BABEH!" Lavi shouted, once again making a complete fool of himself.

Once more strobe lights started up. As the exceedingly fast ride started to reach top speed, which really did make you feel a little sick...but that was the whole point. Allen, who was very small, was pushed right into Lavi's side. "Sorry!" he said, yelling slightly over the sound of the music. Lavi smiled telling him, "It's all right."

After a few minutes, a dull ache was forming in the red heads arm. Cautiously he lowered it, however due to Allen's closeness he had to drape it around his shoulders. He felt the white haired boy stiffen slightly, his silver orbs swivelling up to meet Lavi's green one. "Sorry." He mouthed.

^PlayingThePart^

"BooYeh!" Lavi cried, pumping his fist in the air. Allen rolled his eyes. "Lavi. Calm down. You Hooked. A bag. That's all." Lavi wheeled around to face him. "True! But I got a Puppy!" He said. Brandishing the white fluffy dog in front of Allen's nose. "I can see that..." Allen dug around in his bag, "And I got a...Bunny Rabbit." Allen couldn't help but twitch at the uncanny resemblance it held to the boy next to him.

"I thiiiiink Linalee and Kanda are still on the ride...shall I text them and say we'll see em tomorrow?" Lavi asked. Allen blinked, "Why? Are we leaving?" Lavi laughed and shook his head, "No. I just don't want to go on any more rides. And I think Kanda would like some alone time with Linalee...If you know what I mean." Lavi wagled his eye brows suggestively.

"...oh...OH!...ewwwww Lavi!" was Allen's reaction. Thumping the red head with his bag. "Gah! Just do what you want!" Allen said, folding his arms and pouting slightly. Lavi pulled out his phone and began to text the samurai-man.

He quickly pocketed his phone and turned to Allen. "C'mon! I wanna get Doughnuts!" he whined. Allen snickered. "Whatever Lavi...lead the way oh great King Of Doughnuts!" The short boy picked up his bag he had 'hooked' and draped it over his arm. "And _You _think _I'm _weird!" Lavi said exasperatedly. Allen rolled his eyes. "No. I _know _you're weird." Lavi opened his mouth. And then closed it, "Point taken."

The two boys made there way over to a small white cooking van, 'cleverly' named 'Doughnuts&Crepes'. Ah yes, the ever brilliant imagination of the Great British Public. "Four doughnuts Please!" Lavi ordered cheerily. The man behind the counter, who was scowling and _clearly _not into the spirit of the Fair, picked up the greasy, sugary treats and popped them into a paper bag. There was a short money exchange and the boys were on their way once more.

"Dohmut?" Lavi mumbled through a mouth full of dough. Allen laughed and nodded his head, excepting the unhealthy treat. "Thanks." The two friends simply wondered around the fair for a while, absorbing the atmosphere.

"What now?" Allen asked. Looking around idly at all the side stools. "How about that darts one?" Lavi suggested. Allen looked up at him incredulously, "Uh Mate. I hate to inform you of this...but you only have _one _working eye. AKA Zero Depth Perception." The old-ish woman behind the stool chuckled.

"That's okay sweety. If you try it twice and don't win once, I'll let you pick a prize anyway." Allen turned wide eyes to the woman, "Oh no. You shouldn't..." he said. But Lavi had already picked up the darts and was throwing them idly at the playing cards.

Allen just shrugged his shoulders. It was four pound at the most _and _he was guaranteed a toy. So it was all right. "Hey.. If I hit Allen does it count?" Lavi asked, grinning and prodding Allen in the chest. "EH?" The white haired boy looked down to meet Lavi's finger. It pointing slap-bang at the 'Ace Of Spades'. "Very funny Lavi. Guy wears a Poker shirt and gets threatened with darts...some friend you are." Lavi laughed. Allen rolled his eyes.

The short boy scanned across the fair. Bright lights shining at him from every angle. Teenagers laughing, children smiling and adults wondering around. A happy mood hung in the air, the only people who didn't seem to be enjoying this whole affair were the ones who had overdone it. The people throwing up, and the people who were drunk. He turned his gaze to the oh-so-strange boy next to him.

"Here ya go darlin." The woman said, distracting Allen from his thoughts. She handed him a pulsh dog, which just so happened to be holding a heart with the words _'I Love You' _inscribed on it.

"Sorry," She whispered, trying not to catch Lavi's attention. "It's the last one left...but perhaps you could give it to someone..." the grey haired woman sent a pointed glance toward the red head. Allen flushed and began to stutter incoherently.

The woman let out a bark of laughter and returned to her other customers, with the final words "I can read people darlin."

"What was that all about?" questioned Lavi, draping his arms casually across Allen's shoulders and propping his head on his black-clad shoulder. After hearing that woman's words,Allen was suddenly very aware of how intimate and misleading this position could be. Lavi was practically whispering in his ear, his warm breath ghosting over Allen's neck and sending shivers up his spine.

"...I...Uh..." Allen stammered, resurrecting his voice from it's croaky grave. "It's not...It's not important..." he said finally. Letting out a small sigh of relief as the red head untangled his arms from Allen's neck. "Well now what?" Allen asked. He turned to face his friend who confused him in more than one way.

Lavi shrugged his shoulders, turning his head to look down at the petite boy. Allen Walker was truly a very _pretty _boy. How on earth Lavi had not noticed he was gay was a mystery.

"Shall we just wonder around...we still have two doughnuts to eat and I wanna get a beer or summin..." Lavi said. Allen wrinkled up his nose in obvious disgust. Lavi noted this, "What?" he asked. "Ah nothing. I just _hate _alcohol...let's just say I've had some pretty _bad _experiences with the stuff." Allen said, his eye brow twitching like it did when he argued with one Kanda Yu. Lavi decided it was probably best _not _to ask.

"Alllllright then. No AlcoPops for the Moyashi. C'mon. Let's wonder."

^Playing The Part^

"My feet are _KILLING ME!" _Allen whined. Stomping his feet slightly to emphasise his point. Lavi chuckled and looked down at Allen's feet. "It's your own fault. You wore Ugg Boots." He stated. Allen pouted, stumbling slightly as a chubby woman bumped into him. "Why do you even _have _Ugg Boots? They're Girls shoes!" Lavi said as they came to a less crowded street.

They were heading down the street to Tesco where they would part their way. Allen going right and Lavi straight on.

"Oh shut up! They're comfy!" Allen said, folding his arms. Lavi rolled his eyes, "Well clearly," he paused to take a detour to a bin, carelessly dropping his can of beer into it. "They're not." he said upon his return. Allen made a sound of slight annoyance.

The two friends strode on. A companionable silence surrounded them, occasionally pierced with Allen's grunts of pain. "Oh when the saints..." Allen mumbled. The red head raised an eye brow.

"Come marching in..." the smaller continued. Leaving gaps and pauses, "Oh when the saints come marching in...Oh how I long to be in that nu-"

"What _are _you doing?" Lavi asked.

"Singing." the boy replied, looking up at the taller of the two, "Helps me not concentrate on the pain of my feet..." Lavi laughed. Allen was so strange. Adorable. But strange. "Okay then! Take it away Allen!" said boy widened his eyes, a small grin gracing his lips.

"Oh When the saints!" He sung,louder this time.

"Oh when the saints!" Lavi mimicked, creating a round.

"Come Marching In!"

"Come Marching In!"

"Oh when the saints come marching in!" they sung together.

"Ba da bada!"

Allen snorted. And then giggled. Apparently his laughter was contagious, because soon Lavi was smiling and letting the sounds of joy escape his mouth.

"Oh Man! Lavi you crack me up!" Allen said. Stumbling once again because of his shoes, "Oh fuck this!" He said angrily. Hopping on one leg and pulling his shoe off, and then doing the same with the other. Holding the knitted boots in his hand, he began to march purposefully down the street.

"Oi! Allen! That's dangerous! You could step on some glass!" Lavi called. Running after the white haired teen. Allen smiled, patting the taller boy on the head...even though he had to tiptoe to reach it. "Thank you for your concern Mum. But I'm a big boy now."

Lavi shook his head slightly. The boy really was a wonder.

Eventually the two came across the multi million pound shopping chain branch. 'Their Tesco'. Or at least that's what Lavi and his friends called it. "Well I guess it is time for us to part." Lavi said, gazing up at the moon. Easily spotting the big-dipper and Casiopia. "Yeah." Allen breathed. Slipping back on his shoes.

"Well I will see You." Lavi said, turning to the boy and pointing at him, "Tomorrow." Allen nodded, raising a hand and giving the taller boy a high-five.

"Bye Lavi!" Allen called, as he turned gracefully and began to stride down the street. His skinny-jean clad legs moving in long strides. "Bye Allen!" Lavi called back. Stealing one last look at the smaller boy, before continuing on his short trip back to his apartment. The Day after tomorrow DGRAYMAN would find out if they had enough talent, to be placed into the Live Show.

^PlayingThePart^

AUTHORS NOTE:

So how was that?

Any good?

Drop me a review Please!

If you've faved or alerted this and not reviewed it. Review Pleeeeeaaaasssseeee!

A simple 'It's cool' will be fine, or 'it's crap if thats how you feel.


	10. Let Me Light Up The Sky For You

CHAPTER TEN: Let Me Light Up The Sky For You

Lavi was rummaging through piles of stuff he didn't even know he owned. His hands flicked over a 'I LOVE NY' Key ring which was strange because he'd never even been to New York, he'd been to York in Yorkshire, but not New York USA. His fingers deftly pushed aside two remote controlled cars, a box of old birthday cards and a discarded 'Pop Party 15' CD that he got when he was twelve. His eye scanned over a box of Simpsons Comics, a tin of DVD's, a long green ribbon and a dream catcher. He carelessly threw tee-shirts over his shoulder and carefully placed an ornate music box to the side.

For an outsider Lavi probably seemed like a mad man. However he was doing this for a reason, an important reason at that. The ever cool and friendly red head had lost something.

Lavi had lost his bandanna.

It had disappeared.

Whether it was due to his own carelessness or due to those pesky pixies who always stole your left sock but never your right, was not of importance. The main fact was that it was gone. And Lavi had no idea where it was.

"Shit!" he swore. Fisting his hair as he kicked an old mug under his bed, this in turn hurt his toe causing him to swear again. He strode into his kitchen angrily. His thrust open a cupboard and pulled out a Lollipop. He pushed the treat into his mouth and sat on the work surface, kicking the door closed with his foot. "Damn. Where is it?" He mumbled, pulling the sweet out of his mouth with a wet pop.

"All right...lets retrace my steps..." he said, sliding of the surface and pacing around the kitchen, his bare feet slapping against the tiles. "Okay. So first Allen Kanda and Linalee came over." the tall boy turned around at the end of every sentence.

"Then we grabbed the equipment and I put the bandanna in my jeans pocket."

Turn.

"We got to the hall."

Turn.

"We auditioned"

Turn.

"We got through."

Turn.

"We went to Allen's apartment to drop the equipment off..."

He stopped waking suddenly. As if suddenly hit with a large lump of stone.

"Before going to the fair, and we were going to pick it up on Sunday! And I left my Bandanna at Allen's 'cos I didn't want to lose it!"

He clapped his fist into his open palm. "It's at Allen's!" he cried triumphantly. Dashing into his bedroom. Pulling on some odd socks and falling over in a heap. He righted himself and hurriedly pushed on his trainers. He shoved his keys into his pocket and all but ran out off the apartment at a dead sprint. Only stopping to pull his phone off the sofa.

He ran out into the hallway and hurried down the stairs. The glass doors in the lobby opened automatically and the red head was quickly on his way. He wove through allies, taking the quickest route to Allen's house. Why Lavi had spent hours pouring over online maps and planning the quickest route to Allen's apartment, both on Motor Bike and by foot, was a complete mystery. Lavi supposed it was something to do with wanting to help if the boy was in trouble. Or perhaps he was just a stalker.

"Bah Humbug!...Wait why'd I say that? Why the hell am I questioning my own thoughts? Dear god I'm going mad!...Going? You've already gone...What? Two people! Ahhaha this isn't good." he mumbled, attracting a few curious glances.

Lavi sighed, shook his head and placed his now de-lolliefied stick into a passing bin. "Whatever..." he mumbled. Slowing his pace slightly. He passed Fresh, waving at Jerry through the window. The pink haired man waved back before returning to his job. Lavi didn't have many friends, people like him...but that didn't make them friends.

He didn't come from around here, he had only moved for University. The only people he really knew were Kanda, Linalee, and Allen. However they were enough for him. He was happy with three close friends.

Kanda. The person who set Lavi straight if he was doing something reckless.

Linalee. The nicest girl he had ever met.

And Allen. Who was completely nuts but a great friend.

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi trudged up the metal stairway on the outside of _'Guangzou'_. This was the building Allen lived in. Actually he lived above it to be accurate. _'Guangzou' _was a Chinese Restaurant. It was owned by a woman called Anita, who apparently had ties with Allen and his Ex-Guardian Cross Marian.

Allen lived in the small apartment above it. Sure it wasn't nearly as nice as the one Lavi lived in but Allen said it was good enough for him. You walked through the front door straight into the living room, which connected too two other rooms via archways. The left went to Allen's bedroom and the one in the middle made entrance to the kitchen. The whole thing was carpeted wall to wall in deep blue, the walls were white and so was the ceiling.

There was a single black leather corner sofa in the middle of the living room, it's back pressed up against the wall which belonged to the kitchen. There was a glass coffee table in front of it and a flat TV on the wall which held the door to the outside world. There were a few wall lights, a bookcase, two windows and a chest of draws.

Allen's room contained a low down double bed, covered in red sheets with a black pattern in the corners. There was a corner desk attached to the wall which held a Lava lamp, radio/alarm-clock, and various desk like items. There was also a wardrobe, black bean-bag, desk chair and some shelves full of books. There was a door in his room which led to a bathroom which Lavi had never been in.

The kitchen had black granite surfaces above draws and cupboards. There was a large serving hole in the wall, just above the sofa in the living room. This allowed food to be passed through, which suggested it had once been an extension of the restaurant.

There was also what Lavi liked to call 'Allen's Narnia'. This of course was the eighteen year old's jam-packed little art studio.

All in all, the apartment was small, but it had Allen written all over it.

Lavi reached the door and gave it a series of tuneful knocks. "It's open" called a voice softly. Lavi mentally scolded Allen for not checking who it was first but entered anyway. "Hey Al! It's Lavi! Ya know you really should check who it is first before yo-" Lavi cut himself off when he saw Allen.

The boy was curled up on the sofa, swamped in a hoody that was far too big for him, his cheeks were flushed but the rest of his face was pale. Abruptly the small boy coughed and turned to face the taller boy. "oh hey...Lavi. What're you doin' here?" he asked, sounding slightly hoarse.

Lavi ignored the question and rushed over to his friend. "Oh my God are you okay?" he asked. Allen smiled and nodded muttering, "Shoes." Lavi raised an eyebrow before remembering that one didn't wear shoes in Allen's apartment. He hastily kicked them off before bending over and placing a hand on Allen's forehead. "I'm fine Lavi." Allen whined, brushing off the taller boys hand gently. "It's just cos I did a lot of screaming/singing...so my voice is weak...and I have a slight head ache...and I'm a little cold...but I'll be fine." he said in a quite voice, smiling.

"What did you want again?" Allen asked.

Lavi shook his head. "I originally just came to get my Bandanna...but now your sick...I'm going to be your nurse!" Lavi said proudly. Allen turned to face the TV, which seemed to be playing Forest Gump.

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better..." he mumbled, burying his face further into his jumper and flipping the hood up. Lavi snorted, "I'll have you know I'm a fantastic nurse!" Lavi exclaimed, pushing Allen's hood back down again.

Allen raised a white eyebrow, "I'm slightly worried as to why you say _nurse _not _doctor_..."

Lavi flushed. "Psht! Doctors are overrated!" Lavi said, brushing off the comment with a wave of his hand. Allen smirked. Lavi pouted. There was silence. "Well. Go on then." said Allen, grinning up at the red head. "Nurse me."

"Well okay." Lavi said, walking towards Allen's kitchen. "What're you doing?" Allen asked, peeking curiously through the hole in the wall. "You know what they say:" Said Lavi, rummaging through his friends food, "Feed a Cold. Starve a Fever...Do you have any soup?" he asked, bending over and giving Allen an amazing view off his ass. "I...What? O-oh! N-no! I have Pot Noodle though." he stuttered somewhat distracted.

"How exactly," Lavi said, pulling his head from the cupboard and flicking on the kettle, "Is a Pot Noodle like soup?" Allen shrugged his shoulders. Lavi sighed, pouring the water into the plastic cups and stirring them up. "I suppose it doesn't really matter...hey did you record the auditions?" he asked, walking back to Allen and seating himself next to him. "Yeah." Allen mumbled, reaching for the food which had been placed in front of him. Abruptly Lavi swatted away his hand, "Ah ah ah~ It's still to hot~ Be patient~" Allen folded his arms.

Lavi snickered and picked up the Sky remote, scanning through Allen's recorded list. "mmmmmmmm...Ah Hah! Here it is! 'The Millennium Contest'." Lavi skipped through the ad's until it came to the opening.

Both boys watched in anticipation.

"OH MY GOD! WE'RE IN THE OPENING!" Both shouted at the same time.

And they were. Amidst black and silver stars they were there. Singing like their life depended on it. "Haha! I can't believe it! D'you think that means they'll show our interview?" Lavi asked. Allen gained a look of shock, "God! I hope not!...Oh look it's starting...ohbytheway!" Allen said, rushing the last bit and causing Lavi to raise both of his slender, and possibly plucked, eyebrows.

"What?"

"Can I eat now?"

"Huh?"

"Can I. Eat. Now?"

Lavi smirked. Twisting the unhealthy food on to a fork, he raised it out of the pot and dangled it in front of Allen's plump lips. "Say Ahhh~" Allen just looked at him like you would look at your dog if it did a back flip and then asked you if it could borrow money for the bus.

"Seriously Lavi?"

"Say Ahhh~. Or would you prefer if I said, Here Comes The Train, Into The Tunnel, Choo~ Choo~"

Allen sighed and parted his lips, albeit reluctantly. "Ahhhh~" Lavi popped the fork into the smaller's mouth, and finally let him have the metal instrument.

"Good boy." Lavi cooed, ruffling Allen's white locks. Allen slapped his hand away, "You do realise I'm only one year younger than you. Right?"

"So..." said Lavi, throwing his arms behind his head. "Being Nineteen, give me super ultimate power over you!" Allen sighed, "I'll be your age in December you know?"

"AHHAH!" Lavi cried, pointing a finger at the slightly ill-slightly startled boy. "I know when your birthday is!...Well sorta."

Allen let out yet another sigh, which turned into a coughing fit. "Allen!" Lavi cried. The delicate boy waved his hand in a gesture that said, 'I'm all right'. Lavi relaxed, but only slightly. "I swear! One day your going to give me a heart attack!"

"Whatever. You've already caused my plenty of heart trouble, Lavi." Allen mumbled. However Lavi caught it, he caught the tiny hitch in his friends breath. "Allen?" he asked. "Uh. I'm fine! Just burnt my tong! Uhhh. Press play! Please?" Lavi complied, not actually remembering when he had paused it. All he knew was that the presenter, Chomesuke, was frozen pulling a rather funny face.

^PlayingThePart^

"_WELCOME! This is Millennium!" _Chomesuke, shouted. The crowd cheered. She walked across the stage slowly, cameras panning in her direction.

"_My name's Chomesuke, and I will be your presenter throughout this whole ordeal!"_

Once again the crowd cheered in appreciation. The cameras zoomed away from the brunette and the picture faded to show the room where the auditionees were patiently waiting. More details were given about the show, until finally the camera settled on a boy. His hair was blond and his eyes green.

Allen let out a startled yelp. "I! I know him! He was at the bus stop the day you offended me!" Lavi winced slightly, "Hmmp. Small word, huh?" Allen nodded his head. "Whoa! He has great hair!" Allen stated. Lavi folded his arms, "Suppose..." he mumbled. Allen looked over at the red head, who was slumped in his seat with a distinctly sour look on his face. Allen snickered and lent on his shoulder, "Naww~ Is somebody jealous?" Lavi began to pout.

"_Are first auditionee for today is Raymond Griffin" _Chomesuke's voice chimed, the camera focusing on the boy who was wearing trainers, black skinny jeans, a green tee-shirt, open black waistcoat and various wrist bands. A little banner appeared on the bottom of the screen, which read 'Raymond Griffin 16. Student and Waiter'

"_Hello. My names Ray and I'm a student from Cheltenham...I'm a part time waiter in the Kings Head and I play piano. I guess I'm here because I feel I have something to say when I play. I'm not a happy pop singer, all I want is my message to get across..." _The blond boy said, with a hint of an Irish accent, over the top of clips of him just sitting there, practising on his I-Pad and actually talking.

"Woo! Pianist!" Allen cheered.

The boy walked out onto the stage, first act of the day, in front of a giant restless crowd, and three harsh judges. "God I hope he's good...For his sake." Lavi muttered. Allen nodded in agreement.

"_Hey. I'm Ray. I'm sixteen and I'm going to play the piano."_ Ray said, before turning and sitting at the black grand piano. The audience took in a deep breath as his fingers positioned themselves above the ivory keys.

_'All around me are familiar faces, _

_worn out places,_

_worn out faces'_

_'Bright and early for the daily races,_

_going nowhere,_

_going nowhere.'_

_'Their tears are filling up their glasses,_

_no expression,_

_no expression.'_

_'Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow,_

_no tomorrow,_

_no tomorrow.'_

_'I find it kinda funny,_

_I find it kinda sad,_

_the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had.'_

_'I find it hard to tell you,_

_I find it hard to take,_

_when people run in circles it's a very very..._

_mad world...'_

Lavi felt a tear roll down his face. The melancholy tone it that boys voice, combined with the immense sadness dictated in the lyrics, with the added effect of the sad emerald flames burning in his eyes, would make even the most hard hearted person tear up.

There are two ways you can spot a good musician based on crowd reaction. The first in when you can get everyone up on their feet, cheering, clapping, singing and dancing. The other was what Ray had done. Make the crowd go deathly silent. If a musician can create a silence that spreads throughout the whole stadium, that musician should be earning far more money than they are.

There was silence as Ray lent away from the piano, and looked to the crowd. A look of genuine surprise on his face. "Ummm..." he said. Abruptly Cloud stood up, clapping her hands. Soon Zocalo and Neah joined her, shortly followed by the entire audience.

Allen laughed and wiped away a tear as the boys mouth literally fell open. There was no need for the judges to push the green button. He was through, that was an unspoken truth.

^PlayingThePart^

A little while later, during an advert for Fairy Liquid, Allen pulled himself away from Lavi's shoulder. He padded across the room, into his bedroom, and entered the bathroom Lavi had never been in. The ever lovable red head took this as an opportunity to do some snooping.

Quietly and quickly, like a sly cat who wanted to find the milk, Lavi leapt to his feet and stalked across the room.

He flicked over books, opened draws, rattled a little locked box and flipped open cabinets until he found a two pictures. They were those pictures which you saw, and then assumed, that the owner didn't realise they had. They was folded roughly, the corners were messy and the smooth surfaces covered in finger smudges.

In the top picture was a group of children. All seemed to be around age five, they were sat in two rows, grinning terrific toothy toddler grins. All had tanned skin and black-purple hair. Except one. One little boy with mousy brown hair and grey eyes.

"Hey." Allen said, his voice holding an airy quality. "Hah...I forgot I had that..."

He plucked the image from Lavi's hands. "Hm. That's my Play Group*...wow. That was such a long time ago..." Allen chuckled. Lavi shook his head and turned his gaze to the other picture. This one made his heart clench and his eyes widen.

In the photo was a fourteen year old Allen, white hair and grey eyes. Standing next to him was a slightly taller boy, his hair had a soft quality to it and was coloured a gentle chestnut. His eyes were blue and a smile lit up his face. And, his left arm was slung around Allen's shoulders.

"Oh." Allen said, glancing at the picture. "That's Nalei.* He was my boyfriend for a little while."

^PlayingThePart^

"Oh"

That was all Lavi could say. That one syllable that could be used in so many ways in so many situations. _"I'm getting Married!" "Oh!". "My grandfather died." "oh". "I-I love you." "o-oh?". "We've got PE next." "oooh". "Surprise!" "OH!". "This is how you do it..." "Oooooh"_

"_He was my boyfriend for a little while." "Oh."_

"Yeah,." Allen replied smiling fondly at the picture for a moment before removing it from the slightly frozen red head, and placing it carefully back in the draw along with the other one. The petite boy made his way back to the sofa, he glanced at the red head. "A-are you still umm you know t-together?" Lavi asked, weaving his fingers together to emphasise the 'together'.

Allen laughed. "Did you not hear the 'was' and 'for a little while'?" the slightly younger boy planted himself back on the sofa. "Nah. I'm not. He moved out to India in 2007...He was a good friend..." Lavi felt him self relax. He flopped lazily onto Allen's sofa and slung his legs across Allen's. "Oi!...Gerrof!" However his protests met seemingly deaf ears, as Lavi turned to the Television and watched as the next band came on.

"_Hello. I'm Tyki. This is Wisely, Sheryl and Tryde. We are Noah's Ark."_

"God." Lavi moaned, "Their not gunna be a bunch of Jesus Freaks* are they? I really hope not!" Allen shook his head. He was just surprised to see Wisely pick up a violin.

_'I need an alarm system in my house  
So I know when people are creepin' about_

_These people are freakin' me out (these days)  
It's getting hectic everywhere that I go_

_They won't leave me alone  
There's things they all wanna know_

_I'm paranoid about the people I meet  
Why are they talkin' to me_

_And why can't anyone see..._

_I Just Wanna Live~'_

"I don't like them." Lavi stated, Allen nodded. There was something about the way Tyki, the lead singer, moved and sung. It was almost as if he was too smug, like he'd already won. However the crowd liked them, and the opinions of two teenagers was probably not important enough to actually register in the judges mind. Especially their minds which had been made up yesterday.

The two friends idly watched as only two of the judges hit 'The Big Green Button', as Lavi had called it. Neah had said something along the lines off, "I don't like your attitude." Maybe the two incredibly odd teenagers could contact people in the past. Stranger things have happened.

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi was steadily drifting off to sleep, having spent most of the morning in a frantic game of 'Catch The Bandanna' it was only natural that he was tired. Not to mention the present singer had a voice like his old Chemistry teacher, Mr Wood. God, that man could go on for so long about so little. One time the class had spent a _whole _term on rocks. Not even volcanic rocks. Just rocks. Plain old boring run of the mill rocks that you could find in any back garden, and how 'Society would crumble with out rocks'. Lavi was never, and would never, be sure if the pun was intended or not.

"_And now for the final act!"_

Abruptly, as Lavi's eye began to fall closed, an _extremely _familiar group of voices rang out _"Hello! We're DGRAYMAN!" _Lavi flicked his head abruptly to the screen, his neck clicking in the progress, to find himself staring back. The red head rubbed the base of his neck, fingers scratching over red hair, and said "Man. That's kinda disorientating don't'cha think?"

Allen, who had winced at the loud crack in Lavi's neck, nodded his head slowly. "Just a little bit...It kinda like when you go to an empty hall and you _have _to shout just 'cause it echoes." Lavi raised an eye brow and decided it was best just to agree. _"Hi. My name's Allen Walker, and I am the new pianist." _

"God. Do I _always _sound like that?" Allen asked, appalled at the sound of his own voice as it played through the speakers. Lavi snickered, "Yep. Every single second, Lil'Buddy." Allen growled lightly, muttering "My name's Allen." Lavi patted the top of his friends white head, "I know it is, Lil'Buddy."

Allen would have kicked, punched or smacked Lavi just for the sake of it any other day, however he could not be bothered. He just felt terrible, to put it lightly. Lavi raised his eyebrows as Allen thumped his head against a pillow. "How do you feel?" he asked, concern hinted at the corners of his words. Allen groaned, "Like my heads been run over by a combine harvester...but it felt like the Titanic hit it this'mornin' so...better."

He finished with a smile and turned his attention to the programme, where at present Linalee could be seen checking her guitar, Kanda twiddling his drum sticks, Allen tapping his feet and Lavi talking rapidly to him and arousing no reaction. _"On you go guys. Good Luck." _Chomesuke said, patting each of the band members on the back as they strode on stage. Lavi remembered that pat. In a way it had reassured him. In a way it had made him even more nervous.

"Well then." Lavi said, grinning slyly at Allen. "Let's see what we sound like."

^PlayingThePart^

Allen yawned. He stretched his arms up above his head.

_BANG_

Lavi jumped and slid to the side, eyeing Allen cautiously. "That wasn't _you _was it?" he asked, pointing a suspicious finger at the snowy boy. Allen gave him 'the look'.

_POP_

Lavi raised an eyebrow, "What the bloody hell is that?". Allen shrugged, glancing towards the window.

_WHEEEE_

_BANG_

"Fire Works!" Allen said excitedly, pointing at the window like a small child. Sure enough, just as the red head turned to the pane of glass, the sky filled up with a shower of red sparkles. "That's so awesome! C'mon let's get a better view!" Allen said, jumping up and dragging Lavi toward the door.

"Hey! L-let me put my shoes on!" Lavi stuttered, tripping out of the door.

"No time for shoes!" Allen called over his shoulder, winking as he pushed Lavi towards a ladder that led up to the roof. "Go on." Allen urged. Lavi sighed, falling prey to Allen's whims. He placed his hands on the cold metal and pulled himself up the rungs and on to the roof. He turned and bent down, offering a hand to Allen as his head appeared.

The younger boy smiled up at him, gently taking his hand. Lavi only then noticed how cold Allen's hands were they felt like they were made out of the most delicate ice, "God. You have cold hands." Allen smiled, rubbing one hand inside the other, "Always have. Mana used to say it was bad blood circulation or something..." Lavi smiled.

"Cold hands, warm heart." Lavi said, causing the smaller to raise an eyebrow, "It's a saying." he elaborated.

The two boys padded along the roof, watching in fascination as the colours exploded in the sky, flying around and glittering like millions of tiny fireflies, putting on a unique show just for the the two boys. Steadily the made there way to the centre, carefully pulling themselves up onto the steel ventilation chimney. This gave them a perfect view of the show.

Abruptly large red explosions filled the sky in a shape of a heart. "Aww," Allen coed, folding one leg over the other, " 'Must be a wedding. How sweet." Lavi chuckled, prodding Allen in the ribs with his elbow, "Hey. Do you think Linalee and Kanda are watching this?"

Another series of hearts shimmered in the sky.

"Probably. Why?" Allen asked, turning to meet Lavi's gaze. "Just wonderin'~" he replied. There was a pause, "Reckon their 'Makin' Out'?" Allen's face twisted into one of disgust, "Yuck! Who would want to make out with Kanda? He's got a face like the Queen's Rear End!" Lavi roared with laughter, shaking his head and wrapping his arm around the slender shoulders of one Allen Walker. "God! I've got to tell him you said that!"

"Please don't." Allen said, shifting towards Lavi subconsciously for warmth, "I might never make it to the next performance." Lavi pulled the boy closer, glueing his eyes to the night, sky, swinging his legs in the breeze. "Well," he said after a moment, "We could always get a new pia-" "Oh shut it! You know DGM wouldn't be awesome if it wasn't for me! If anything we need a new singer!" Lavi laughed, "Yeah right! No ones more awesome than me when it comes to singing!"

"Hmmm. I dunno." Allen cut in. "Chester Bennington's pretty good." he teased. Lavi shook his head, "Yeeeah. But _he's _a professional! I'm not yet! I will be one da-"

Allen patted his knee, "Don't worry _sweety_ we all know. Lavi's gunna be famous aren't you _darling_. And then everyone is going to love you and thousands of girls will scream you name.I know _baby_. I know." His tone of voice was _extremely _patronising, causing Lavi to give him a half hearted glare.

"You just wait Mister Walker! One day! One day I'll...I'll...uhhhh" Allen snickered, and pushed himself away from the red head, "What find a better football team to support?"

"Hey! I'll have you know Man U* is at the top of the table!*"

"Shortly followed by Chelsea~"

"Who _will _be beaten by Liverpool."

"Get off it! No way! Beaten by those Flopping Wankers? In your dreams!"

"Still doesn't stop the fact we're at the top."

"At least _I _don't follow the cricket."

"_I don't _follow cricket!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes!"

"That back fired on me."

"That's cos you've been watchin' too much NFL."

"Yeah. When Kanda dies his hair blonde! They're all a bunch of pansies! It's just Rugby, but with more padding!"

"So we both agree American Football sucks arse?"*

"Agreed."

The two boys sat back, leaning against each other. Smiles tweaking at the edge of their lips. Sitting in companionable silence as multi coloured sparks lit up the sky. And at that moment it seemed like they were the only people in the world and that the showers of sparkles were for them and them alone.

^PlayingThePart^

AUTHORS NOTE: 

Guangzou is the place where Anita was based. I consulted Wiki.

* Play Group is where you go before starting Primary School. Age 4-5.

*You guys remember Nalei from episode 27. You know the kid from India.

* I mean no offence. If you are Religious that's not my problem.

*Common abbreviation of Manchester United. A popular Foot Ball (soccer) team.

*The League Table. I'm not to sure how it works, but being at the top mean you're more likely to win.

*I don't mean to offend. But in most English people's opinions it really does.

SONGS:

Mad World- Gary Jules

I Just Wanna Live – Good Charlotte

**Also I have a question for you readers. **

**Can you guess My age?**

Ahhhhh~ It's snowing over here in Jolly Old England! Amazing. It looks beautifull. But it is so cold! It's like minus 18 decgrees C at night. But we've got the tree up! Shit that reminds me! I have one more tree to do! Anyway, do you guys realise how weird it is writing a story based in Summer in the coldest English winter ever! Very strange.

Ray and Noah's Ark, are very important elements in this story. I wanted to use a DGM char for Ray, but I couldn't think of one, aside from Allen and Neah, who played Piano.

Keep Reading, Keep Reviewing, and I'll Keep Writing.


	11. The Ginger Vs Sleeping Beauty

CHAPTER ELEVEN: The Ginger Vs Sleeping Beauty

"C'mon!" said a rather annoying voice, rather loudly, in Allen Walker's sensitive ear. "Up! Up! Up!" Allen, to his utmost annoyance, felt something smack him (in a rather annoying manner he might add) in the face. Luckily whatever it was it wasn't heavy, Allen's keyed in senses could easily tell exactly what it was.

No.

No they couldn't actually.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, tearing open his eyes and pulling the nuisance off of his face. "Eeeeahhhhh!" He threw _Lavi's Underwear as_ far away from him as physically possible.

"Eeek! Allen! Keep _those _away from me!" shrieked a sleepy looking Linalee, hair straighteners being tugged through her hair, and kicking the horrid disgusting item across the floor of Lavi's apartment. Where they promptly folded themselves around Kanda's ankle,

"Linalee!" he said, turning to focus narrowed eyes on the shorter girl. "Get. Them. Away."

"Awwww! Geez guys!" Lavi said, arms behind his head, plucking _that which must no be named _off of the easily angered 'Jap' with his foot. "It's not like I've been wearing them." He sounded slightly annoyed, but then again it _was _four in the morning.

"We know Lavi," Allen said, sitting up from his position in a sleeping bag on the floor. "We're just tired. Let's get dressed. Have some coffee and get a move on. Okay?"

Lavi, who still looked slightly pissed, nodded his head. Linalee let out a yawn and stumbled toward the bathroom, the door locking behind her long legs with a click. In a rush the three boys pushed themselves into comfortable clothing. After all, it took four and a half hours to get to London. Not to mention they would probably stop at one of those Motorway Service Stations. Then they actually had to navigate the London traffic to get to their hotel, which would take them ages because they were all crap at navigating.

All in all they were _not _looking forward to this. Not at all.

After about an hour's worth of disorganized teenage madness, they were finally all seated in Kanda's black Audi. Kanda was gripping the wheel with so much intent his knuckles were white. Linalee, who was in the passenger seat, was speaking soothing words and flicking on Heart Radio. Lavi was whining about not sitting in the front seat or something like that. Allen, who was sat next to Lavi, was desperately trying to get him to shut up before Kanda did something drastic.

^PlayingThePart^

Most people, by now, would be wondering _why _they awoke far too early for their own good. Or what the colour of Lavi's underwear was. Or they might be thinking about Kanda's car, or why they're off to the capital. They could be coming up with many possibilities.

Did Kanda finally kill Jerry?

Perhaps they're fleeing from Allen's God Father, who has just returned with another load of debts?

Has Linalee lost her virginity and is running from her brothers wrath?

Are they _finally _taking Lavi to that Mental Asylum?

No.

Those are clichéd plot lines and sub stories for another tale.

In all fact the reason for their rather troublesome road trip, starts with a knock at the door. A knock at the door from none other than Neah.

Unfortunately, Lavi had answered the door and, upon seeing the cameras, had let out a loud "EHHH?" and now that was on National British Television. However the members of DGRAYMAN didn't really care. Neah's news had completely changed their lives.

"You're through to the Semi-Final!" had been his exact words.

Apparently the Semi-Final was a series of four live TV shows where the public would vote for who they wanted to go to the Final, the two acts with the most votes would go through making a total of eight acts in the Final. The Final would be held at Wembley Arena, each act would perform once, three would get kicked out by voters, they would perform again, another two would be kicked, the final three would perform again and the winner chosen.

However, before any of this could start, the acts had to record some things of them practising _and _the song they would sing so it could be released on I-Tunes. But before even _that _could happen, they had to actually _get _to London. And what with rush-hour traffic it was easier to start earlier. So that's what they were doing. Driving...Well Kanda was driving. Linalee was reading the map, Lavi was listening to music and Allen was asleep.

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi pried open his eye. Straightening his body and stretching out his legs, the familiar feeling of Pins-And-Needles creeping up to his knee, and slowly dissipating. He glanced around Kanda's car. The Japanese boy had his eyes glued to the road as the sun peaked over the horizon; Lavi had enough sense to leave him alone. Linalee's head was lolling to the side, map open in her lap. Allen was asleep, his seat belt only covering his waist, allowing his head to rest on Lavi's lap. The red head absent-mindedly ran his fingers through the younger boy's hair.

He caught Kanda's eye in the rear-view mirror. "Where about are we?" he asked.

The long haired male shifted in his seat. "We're almost nearly halfway..." Lavi nodded, looking at the signs on the road side. Green hills, scattered trees and sheep whizzed across the landscape.

"Hey Yu?"

"Don't call me that."

"Ahahah...sorry. Do you wanna stop at the next Service Station thingy? We can all get some coffee...and you can take a break?"

"Sure. Although I am _not _waking Linalee up! She nearly bit off my head this morning..."

Lavi chuckled.

Kanda and Lavi did get along, despite their many, _many _differences. But only sometimes...

"Hey. If you turn the radio up real loud you could say _that _woke her up," Lavi said, winking.

Kanda rolled his eyes, "You know what? Sometimes you actually make sense."

Lavi grinned. Coming from Kanda, that was a compliment. This was probably only said because Kanda was shit tired. Lavi oh so _wished _he had got it recorded, _just _so he could play it over and over _just _to piss off Kanda. So in the long term it was probably a good thing Lavi _didn't _get that on tape...after all he wanted to keep his head attached to his shoulders.

The volume button was jabbed by Kanda's offending finger multiple times. Immediately Lavi's ears filled with the sound of Olly Murs.

"Mmmph. Wh...whut'sh... Olly? Wait..." a tired voice mumbled. Lavi looked down at the snowy boy.

"Yo! Sleeping Beauty!" Lavi chimed.

Allen flicked his gaze to the ever excitable red head as he pulled himself upright. "Urgh. Where the bloody hell are we and _why _is extremely peppy music playing?" Allen directed at Lavi. Lavi briefly explained the situation to Allen, watching as his face quickly contorted into that look of _'Dear God! I need Coffee! Now!' _"Why are we doing this again?" Allen asked, slumping back into the leather seat and folding his arms.

Lavi smirked and ruffled the younger boy's hair, earning him a growl. "Because~ we want to win! And win money! And become famous! And get loads of fans! Which means loads of girls! Sexy girls! With really big b-"

"I GET IT!" Allen half shouted. Cutting off Lavi before he could continue with his _description _of women.

Lavi raised an eye brow, "I was merely mentioning that girls have boo-"

"LAVI!" Allen shot him an annoyed glare.

"Hmpf. And here I was thinking all boys enjoyed discussing boobs. Clearly I was wrong!" Lavi exclaimed dramatically. Kanda snorted, smirking in the mirror.

Allen gave Lavi _The Look_.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm gay," Allen dead panned.

"Fail, Lavi," said Kanda.

"I'm sorry," Lavi mumbled, hanging his head.

Allen reached over and patted his red locks. "It's all right; sometimes I forget you're straight."

Lavi's head snapped up, "What's _that _supposed to mean?"

Allen snickered.

"You _can _be a bit flamboyant Lavi," Kanda added, joining forces with Allen to prolong Lavi's torture.

"Mmmmmhm," Allen agreed, nodding his head, "It really is confusing. I mean one minute you're a straight as an arrow, but the next you're hugging me and calling me, and I quote, _'Sleeping Beauty'_. I mean, how more gay can you get!"

"Actually," added Kanda, "he _could _be gayer. He could be kissing you and fucking you up the a-"

"Waaaay too much info there Kanda!" Allen cut across, turning a fabulous shade of pink.

Lavi groaned and smacked his head into his hands. "Why God why?" he asked, gazing at the clouds longingly as if God would appear suddenly, strike down Allen and Kanda, give Lavi a girlfriend and then God, Lavi and his new girlfriend would go party in Las Vegas.

"'God' can't hear you Baka-Usagi," Kanda said, Lavi noted the air quotes around God. Everyone knew Kanda was atheist, Lavi didn't really give a flying pig shit about religion, Linalee had never mentioned it and Allen...hmm Allen had mentioned that Mana had had him baptised but Allen, much like Lavi, didn't really care.

"Oooooowhhh. I wish Linalee was awake. I'm sure she'd defend me!" Lavi whined.

Allen snorted, "I doubt it! From what I saw she's a mean bitch when she wakes up." Lavi chuckled.

"_What did you say?"_

Allen gulped, turning his head slowly to look at Linalee. "N-n-n-nothing Linalee! Nothing! I-it was the radio! I swear!"

"Ah! L-look! There's the station! Let's go get some coffee!" Lavi said quickly, pointing out the window. Linalee turned her ultimate death glare out of the window, and away from Allen. 'Thank You' Allen mouthed at Lavi. Lavi winked, "You can repay me with your body."

Allen gaped. "You see! This!" He pointed at the laughing red head, "This! Is what me and Kanda were on about! Isn't it Kanda?"

Kanda nodded.

"Kanda and _I_," corrected Lavi.

"Does it matter?" said a distressed Allen, waving his arms wildly.

"You crack me up!" whooped Lavi, yet again being punched in the arm by Allen...that seemed to be happening more frequently as of late.

^PlayingThePart^

The four friends were sat around a small coffee table in a nearly deserted Costa. Resting in their hands were large mugs, all empty. The bags under their eyes had receded a little, however they were far from being bright eyed and bushy tailed. There had been the epic decision on Costa or Starbucks, eventually deciding on Costa as it was cheaper and hey, teenagers love spending as little money as possible.

"I'm going to pee," Kanda stated.

"Lovely," Allen muttered as Kanda pushed his chair out and strode away. Linalee mumbled something about buying food for the car. She also pulled herself up with an outstanding amount of grace for someone who was practically dead on their feet. Lavi watched her with vague amusement. "So," came Allen's voice, Lavi's eye snapped back to meet his friends silver ones. "What now?" the shorter asked.

Lavi's eye focused on the arcade. A wide smile creeping onto his face. "I'll battle you on Dance Stage." Allen frowned. He was about to refuse, having had bad experiences with those contraptions before, but Lavi pulled out his ultimate puppy dog pout.

"Oh! Fine! Whatever! Let's go."

Lavi cheered. Practically jumping out of his seat, grabbing Allen, and forcing him onto one of the metal mats. Allen ran his hands across the pink hand rail whitest Lavi selected the modes and the song. Allen was still eyeing the rail as Lavi decided on the song, "What's this rail for anyway?" he finally asked.

Lavi shrugged, deciding on Sway With Me. "Maybe it's for OAP's?" Allen laughed.

The music was starting. Allen stretched his arms above his head; turning his gaze to Lavi he said "You do realize I'm going to kick your ass, right?"

"With your sense of balance? No way."

"I may have no balance, but your ass is a big enough target."

"Lil' Buddy. That was the worst comeback I have ever heard."

Allen huffed, rolling his head to the side and focusing on the screen. Suddenly Allen smirked. _'3! 2! 1!' _boomed the voice. "Bring it on ginger!"

Left foot. Right foot. Jump. Jump. Forward. Back.

"Oh! You did not just call me ginger!"

Jump. Jump. Twist. Kick. Left. Left Right.

"Oh, I think you'll find I did!"

Left. Left. Left. Right. Right. Right.

"This is red! Red! Not weak orange!"

Jump.

"It's kinda orange...see."

"Oi! Get off my head bean sprout!"

Jump. Left. Right. Jump. Twist.

"But you do see my point?"

Left. Right. Jump.

"Yes. It is kinda orange. But not weak orange!"

"Which is worse I wonder...I bet you were never very good at hide and seek as a child..."

Jump.

"Watch it! I can kick you out of the band! I'm in charge! This whole thing was my idea!"

Jump. Push. Shove. Trip.

"Hey! Don't push me off the mat! That's cheating!"

"It's not cheating if you win!"

"What the fuck? Lavi! That makes zero sense."

"You make zero sense!"

"Oh! And _I _ have lame comebacks?"

It's easy to say, this dance battle ended in fits of laughter. Who won? Well that's not really important. Lavi was sat on his but, panting, and grinning like a fool. Allen was sprawled on the floor, also panting, and laughing like a maniac. There was a cough from behind them. Both heads twisted to face Linalee.

"If you two are quite finished..." she said. Lavi and Allen visibly winced, Linalee was clearly still grouchy. Lavi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Now. We need to go. So you two," Linalee pointed at the two boys, "Go pee."

"Yes Ma'am." Lavi said, hanging his head and pushing himself to his feet. He turned around to gaze quickly at the white haired boy, stretching out his hand. He felt Allen's cold fingers wrap around his wrist, he tugged and pulled the smaller boy to his feet. Slowly they trudged toward the men's toilets, all the while trying to hide their ever present grins from Linalee.

^PlayingThePart^

"What I-Pod do you have Lavi?" Allen asked suddenly. The four band members had left the service station roughly thirty minutes ago. Allen had been staring quietly out of the window for most of that time. And after half an hour of seeing an endless pattern of: Tree, field, field, sheep, more sheep, cows, field, field, wall, field, sheep etc. He was becoming rather bored.

Lavi flicked his gaze to the smaller boy, who was sitting on his right, meaning he had to turn his head completely. "Touch," he replied. "Why?"

Allen's eyes lit up. "Can I play on Tap Tap Revenge? Pleaseee?" he asked. Lavi cocked his head to the side, fishing his I-Pod out his pocket none the less.

"Sure. But why not use your own?" the red head asked, handing the sleek object to Allen.

"I have a Classic," came the reply. Lavi made an 'o' with his lips. He watched idly as the shorter boy placed one ear bud in his ear and fiddled around with Lavi's I-pod, correctly guessing Lavi's password, much to Lavi's dismay.

"Battle?" Allen asked, shifting his body so he was facing the taller red head. Lavi tilted his head slightly, taking a moment to figure out what the shorter boy was on about. Eventually it clicked, for a self-proclaimed genius Lavi could really be slow sometimes.

As the two boys readied themselves over the touch screen, Linalee leaned back in her seat, fiddling around with her seat belt. She shot a smile at Kanda. Kanda sighed, "Maybe that'll shut the damn rabbit and his pet faggot up."

"Shut up ass hole! I can still hear you know!" went the voice of an angry Allen.

"Shut up Bean Breath!"

"Oh! _Real Imaginative_!"

"Fag!"

"Jackass!"

"Get fucked!"

"Why don't you go take a long walk of a short pier?"

"Well! Why don't you go-"

"WILL YOU BOTH SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Allen's mouth was slightly agape. Kanda was stunned. Normally this little outburst was known to come from Linalee. However...

Lavi closed his mouth after the large yell, glancing around at the other three passengers. They were all staring at him, "What?" he asked.

Allen's big grey eyes blinked "Nothing. Just never heard you yell like that."

Lavi hung his head. "But did the message sink in?" he asked. Allen shook his head. Lavi sighed, so they really never listened to him huh?

^PlayingThePart^

"Are we there yet?" Lavi whined.

Linalee turned to face him, "We're about three-quarters of the way there."

Lavi nodded his head. This road trip was starting to get a _little _dull. Lavi sighed and looked toward Allen. The boy looked as if he didn't want to be disturbed, his nose was stuck in a book called '..._Under Red Skies' _most of it was hidden by the boys thumb.

He decided it was best not to disturb the younger boy; after all he had such a cute concentration face on. And there were Lavi's thoughts running away from him again, Lavi really needed to find a more secure cage to put those in. Maybe they sold them at Argos... After all, they sold _everything else_ at Argos, well except for the thing you actually needed to buy, you could never find that in the Argos Catalogue. Lavi had had strange experiences at Argos, there'd been the day he went to buy a beanbag from Argos...strange people work at Argos...'Nuff said bout Argos.

How many times did he just think the word 'Argos'? Seven...no Eight times if you counted that last one. He needed to stop thinking about Argos...make that nine.

He turned his attention to Kanda. He saw the look on his face, and immediately decided not to bother him.

Linalee? What was she doing anyway? Oh, using the sun shield mirrors to apply make-up. She gave the red head a small smile. Lavi sighed, she didn't look very interesting to talk to. Slowly he sunk further into his seat, fumbling around with the seatbelt until he was comfy. He sighed, wriggling around a little bit more. He saw Allen glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Are we there yet?" he asked again, pouting slightly, sinking further and looking out the window. He heard Allen snicker, and the rustle of a book closing. Kanda's eye twitched in the rear-view mirror.

"It's only been about ten minutes Lavi," Linalee said as calmly as she could.

"Oh," Lavi replied monotonously, "Seemed like longer."

Silence. Well as much silence as you could get on a motorway with Heart Radio blaring out as loudly as their ear drums would allow.

Allen turned his attention to his book.

"Are we there yet?" he asked. After all what was more entertaining than pissing of an already irate Kanda and a slightly touchy Linalee? The answer? Nothing. And if anyone ever dared to say something was more fun, that something could make you laugh more, Lavi would set the irate Kanda on them.

"No!" came the snappy reply.

Lavi opened his mouth, "Don't! Don't say anything!" Linalee said crossing her arms over in front of her body in the universal motion for 'no'. Allen's face was contorted as he tried not to laugh and Kanda was pinching the bridge of his nose. Lavi let a smirk play upon his lips before huffing and folding his arms. Linalee let out a relieved sigh, clearly she though this whole ordeal was over...

"Are we there yet?"

Kanda raised his hands and slammed them down on the wheel, "Is there _anything _more annoying than you?" he hissed out. Allen was laughing his head off by this point.

Lavi shrugged nonchalantly, "Dunno...The Alpen advert?"

Allen briefly stopped laughing, "That _is _an annoying advert isn't it. The girls are sooooo flat-chested."

Lavi raised a quizzical eyebrow, "I though you didn't care about that?"

Allen winked, "I don't, but we homos sure can bitch."

"WILL YOU BOTH-"

"Are we there yet?"

"OH, FOR FUCKS SAKE!"

^PlayingThePart^

"Ah! We're here! Oh my God!" Allen said, excitedly jumping up and down. He stopped. Glaring at Linalee "Is what I _would _be saying, if you hadn't gone and got us lost!" Linalee turned to face him, her face angry...but not nearly as angry as Allen's...which was nowhere near the annoyance displayed on Kanda's.

"_Me?_" She said, pointing at herself. Allen nodded, "Yes. _You_. If I remember correctly, you were the one with the map. So ergo, you made us get lost."

She stomped her foot, high heel sinking into the grassy embankment. "We are not lost!"

Allen scoffed, holding his arms out and spinning in a circle. "Really? Really? Because I do not remember London being a grassy embankment on the side of a main road. And I certainly do not remember there being suspicious looking sheep!" He pointed angrily at a slightly grubby sheep which was creeping up behind Lavi.

The red head turned around, taking a small step back and giving the sheep a little pat on the head, "Good stalker sheep...Good stalker sheep," immediately the sheep bolted into the undergrowth. "Well that solves one problem..."

Allen sighed, "Figure out where we're supposed to be. Please. I'm going to sleep." And with that he traipsed over to Kanda's car, opened the back door and clambered into the seat. He stretched himself out and lay down.

"Brat." Linalee mumbled, turning to face Kanda. Lavi sighed, Allen really could be a little bit of a brat at times, but after hours of driving only to find they'd taken a wrong turn it really was an understandable reaction. Not to mention Linalee had been doing her make-up most of the time.

Lavi also wandered over to the car, opening the door. He slid in next to his white haired friend. Allen sat up and turned to face the window. "You were a little harsh on her you know?" Lavi said calmly.

Allen stared blankly at the reflection of Lavi's Bat Man tee-shirt, "I know. I'll apologize."

The red head grinned, ruffling the shorter's hair until they were both laughing, "That's my Allen!"

Allen shrugged away, "I'm not _your _Allen."

Lavi faked a pout desperately trying to loop his arms around the younger boy, "Aww! But Baby! I thought-"

"I am not your baby." Allen dead panned, removing Lavi's arms.

"Isn't that a line from The Devil Wears Prada?" Lavi asked, looking at Allen curiously. Allen raised an eyebrow to new heights.

"_You've _watched The Devil Wears Prada?"

Lavi shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. So what? It came with 27 Dresses."

Allen's eye brows rose even higher, "You're not serious are you?"

Lavi ran a hand through his hair, "Damn, I shouldn't have mentioned that. Look. Allen. Linalee gave them to me as a joke present...I actually found The Devil Wears Prada quite funny though..." Allen laughed. Lavi grinned.

"It's just weird. I mean RomComs? Seriously? I thought you were more of a fan of the whole big explosions, Si-Fi, action thingies."

"Hey. I love those too! And fantasy! Fantasy rocks...Horror's pretty good too. But every now and then you need Romance ya know? Especially when you're lonely and single...ah how sad it is to be this handsome and yet still be single..." Lavi sighed dramatically.

Allen looked at him mischievously, "And why was it again that you're not going out with anyone?" he asked, knowing full well the answer.

Lavi shuffled his feet on the rough gritty gripping floor of Kanda's car. "I'm looking for the right person?" he suggested weakly, and yes it did sound like a question.

Allen snickered, "Of course Lavi...But...From what I heard from 'The Gossip Girls' it's that you're such a player, you can't go out with one girl for more than a month without getting bored...or slapped. And so now, you are oh so alone! Oh! No sadder tale has ever been told than that of Lavi and his Libido!"

Lavi pouted, "You can't badly parody Shakespeare and use it against me! I'm the one who loves history!"

At this point Linalee and Kanda slid back into the car. Allen quickly turned his attention to Linalee, apologizing profusely. Linalee smiled at him, explaining that it was her fault and they only took one wrong turn so they should be back on track in no time. She also said that they should arrive at London in about an hour, give or take.

Lavi smiled as he leaned back in his seat. This was what friendship was. Being able to argue with each other and make up almost instantaneously. It is the ability to throw offensive comments back and forth but be at their side when they most needed it. The ease you felt at making them smile and the amount of time you spent laughing together. Or at least, that was what friendship was in Lavi's mind.

Perhaps it was an odd relationship. Arguments floating on the air, complements hidden within sarcasm, punches thrown and signals missed. But, Lavi liked it this way. As horribly cheesy as it may sound, he wouldn't have them any other way.

^PlayingThePart^

"WE'RE HERE!" Lavi cried, hopping from one foot to the other and attracting a lot of attention from passers by.

Linalee sighed, turning to the check in desk and explaining the details. "Lavi calm down." Allen pleaded. Lavi ignored him and continued to bounce around the lobby of the posh hotel named 'Vatican'.

Vatican was an Italian style hotel, decked out in marble surfaces, red walls, soft carpet, immaculate statues and golden trimmings. It gave off an air that could make even the dirtiest of scum feel like royalty, or the Pope as it probably was in this case. The whole place reeked of wasted money; Allen doubted that, even with his amazing poker skills, he probably couldn't afford a glass of water. Luckily for them 'The Millennium Contest' was paying for their expenses and they got a discount, Allen supposed it was because the contest would give the Hotel a lot of publicity.

Linalee finished up her conversation with the blue haired receptionist whom was, according to a gold plaque, called Madarao. Allen glanced at the man's strange hairstyle which seemed far too out of place in this hotel. "You will be in room 341. Thank you for staying with Vatican."

"Well he wasn't creepy at all," said Lavi sarcastically as the four band members dragged their cases into the lift and proceeded to climb slowly up to the third floor. Linalee gave him a sideways glance which read, 'You're not one to judge.' Allen sighed quietly, he didn't want to admit it...but he had a bad feeling about this place.

The lift came to a sleek stop; Linalee wheeled herself out of the little box and travelled down the corridor. The three boys trailed behind her like lost puppies. Allen grimaced; even the doors were gold painted in this place. The white haired boy dragged his feet across the plush carpet, his trainers feeling as if they were made of lead, one foot was wearily lifted but a centimetre above the ground before falling back to the floor, the other foot followed after, and he ran a hand through dishevelled hair a slight coating of grease coming off on his fingers.

Linalee turned the key in the lock. Allen entered the room and his jaw dropped to the ground. "Whoa." Lavi said, voicing the others thoughts. The suit's walls were covered in a warming shades of yellow, the floor was soft carpet, the furniture has a classic dark wood theme too it, the sofa looked soft and was decked out in piles of orange and red pillows.

At fist it seemed as if everything had a very classical comforting feel to it, however if you looked closer hints of technology peeped around corners. The TV set was one of the newest models from what Allen could see, the mini-bar was more of a bar and less of a mini, there was a sound system and it looked as if there was a touch screen computer sitting on an old desk. And everything in the room looked as if it could pay Allen's way through University.

The four friends stood there for a while, gaping, before closing the door and deciding on rooms.

Room 341 had two double rooms with two single beds in them. It was decided that Lavi was most likely to pounce on Linalee in the night, which he strongly opposed, and therefore Linalee was staying with Kanda.

Allen trudged into their shared room, taking note that it seemed to have a blue theme, pulled his large sports bag (which was filled with various items of his) up to the far bed and promptly collapsed face first into the deep blue sheets. He heard Lavi laugh, and another thump and the taller boy flopped down and the spring creaked as he shifted slightly. "Tired, Al?" he asked.

"Yeah..." came the soft reply as grey eyes began to slide closed.

"Good night, 'Sleeping beauty'."

Allen snickered, "Night night, 'Ginger'."

^PlayingThePart^

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**THIS ONE'S IMPORTANT! .**

Okay first things first. There are two polls up on my page that I would like you too answer. Please answer the one about my age, you don't have to answer the other one! Pleaseeeeee do it...

I will reveal the results in the next chapter. ^-^ Thanks in advance.


	12. Boredom Strikes When We Least Expect It

CHAPTER TWELVE: Boredom Strikes Us When We Least Expect It

Have you ever woken up and had the most weirdest thought. For example, sometimes you can wake up with a craving for McDonalds Milkshakes, other times you realise you forgot to feed the fish, sometimes you wake up with a song you haven't heard in years stuck in your head and quite possibly you could wake up with the strong belief that you are in fact a small dog.

Allen woke up with the thought of "Who put cheese in the room?." He rubbed his eyes and sat up, turning to gaze at the alarm clock on the bed side table. "Oh 6:30PM..." A weird time to wake up. Allen rolled over in hopes of discovering the source of the odd cheese smell. In stead he found Lavi's back, the boy was clearly still sleeping, curled up on his side with one arm under his head, hand gripping the back of his vibrant hair. Allen stared at the back of Lavi's head for a while, trying to imagine his facial expression.

Allen flung his legs around and with a great effort pulled himself to a sitting position, feet tapping the floor. He stretched his arms above his head, feeling a satisfying clunk in his spinal area. He yawned, he sniffed, he smelt cheese. Allen gingerly sniffed his own armpit... "Oh! Dear God almighty!" he cried, pulling his nose away quickly. He ran a hand through his hair, hand coming away with a fresh coating of grease and grime under his nails.

"Mmmmmhm...Ngh...hehehe..." Lavi murmured in his sleep. Allen raised a suspicious eyebrow, "I do not want to know what he's dreaming of." Allen made his way across the room, tiptoeing through a door and emerging into a spacious bathroom. He stripped himself of his well worn clothes, trying to keep his shirt as far away from his nose as possible, and dumped them onto the floor. Silver eyes scanned the room, in hopes of finding free shampoo and what not. "Ah! There you are you little bugger!" he said as he triumphantly laid eyes on the small items sitting by the sink.

Allen wasn't a cheapskate, he _did _bring his own shampoo. But who in their right mind would spend a quarter of an hour trying to dig it up from the bottom of their suitcase while they smelt like cheese and their over excitable temporary room-mate made suspicious noises in their sleep? The answer? No-one.

The small Walker was stood stark naked, pressed up against the side of the shower as slowly heating water tumbled from the shower head. No he wasn't scared of a spider on the far wall. He was simply waiting for the water to warm up, having unsuccessfully dived into an ice cold shower before and promptly not been able to breath, he knew that waiting for the water to warm was indeed the best idea.

Slowly he stood under the stream of water, feeling the clear liquid wash over him and letting the marks of the long day wash down the drain.

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi awoke to the sound of something, or someone, dropping to the floor. He opened both eyes lazily, blinking slowly as Allen turned around . Suddenly he sat up and smacked a hand over his right eye. His eye patch had fallen off in his sleep. The white haired boy, who had been the source of the noise seeing as he was picking what seemed to be a large book off of the floor, gingerly took a step backward. Lavi smiled lopsidedly up at his shorter friend, "Sorry man. I'd just rather you didn't see my eye. I'm not to comfortable with it myself yet..."

"It's fine. I know what you mean." Allen said, his lips turning upward into a kind and understanding smile. "Now." Allen said, placing the book on his bed, "Go have a shower and get dressed! You smell like cat litter!"

"Geeze. Thanks buddy." Lavi muttered, feigning offence as he trudged toward the bathroom. "No problem." Allen chirped, humour twinkling on his voice. Lavi grumbled, yawned and pushed himself into the bathroom. The pianist shook his head slightly as the door slammed shut behind the red head, "No manners..."He said half heartedly, but loudly enough to get a reply of "Whatever!"

The short boy finished his unpacking, throwing the sports bag into the corner of the room. Allen didn't bother to check if it actually landed, it could go out the window for all he cared, he turned around and strode out into the living room of this extremely luxurious hotel suit. "G'morning fat face." he said upon making eye contact with one Kanda Yu. The man gave him the once over, "Could your jeans _get _any tighter, short arse?" Allen huffed and sat down.

Okay so maybe his jeans were a _little _on the tight side, but they looked good on him! They showed of his slender legs and made him all the more sexy if he did say so himself! "Oh, leave him alone Kanda." Linalee sat down next to Allen, "He's just trying to get Lavi's attention after all~" Allen smirked at her, "Hey Linalee...When are your guys' Mini-Samurai babies due again?"

"Touché." came the reply.

Kanda growled low in his throat. Allen snickered and threw an arm around Linalee, "Awww You've got yourself a little guard dog." Linalee blushed and Allen decided to test Kanda's restraint. He wrapped his other arm around the older girl and hugged her tightly, Kanda's eyes narrowed and the growl became louder. "Bakanda~"

You could literally hear Kanda snap. "GRRRRRRRRR! MOOOYAAASHIIIIII!" 'The Beast' flung himself from the chair and lunged at Allen.

Lavi chose this moment to walk in. He tilted his head to the side, slowly mulling over all the possibilities as to why Kanda was using one hand to grasp Allen's neck and shoving him against the wall. Sudden miniature earthquake located solely in their room? Kanda was turning into an abusive seme? (Lavi had seriously been reading to many of Linalee's manga's...her new craze was Shounen-Ai.) Allen was choking on something? Perhaps Kanda was using Allen to kill a giant spider?

Maybe! Maybe, that wasn't the real Allen! But an imposter in an Allen suit! Or a shape shifter? Nah, Allen suit. And the imposter had come to steal their musical secrets?

Yes. That made sense.

The red head waltzed over to the pair. "Ah. So I see you caught the imposter, Kanda." Both boys faced him at the same time, "What?" they said unanimously. "You! Good sir!" Lavi cried dramatically, pointing at a confused bean sprout, "Are an imposter!" Allen blinked, "What?" he asked again. Lavi grinned.

"Confused? And so you should be! Your plan to impose as Allen and steal all of our musical secrets was a great one, and you were doing it well...however! You made one fatal mistake!...pause for dramatic effect...Allen would _never_ sleep through lunch!"

Allen's face paled. "I SLEPT THROUGH LUNCH?"

^PlayingThePart^

"Uhm H-hello?...Excuse me?" Lavi flicked his head up. It seemed as if one of the organiser people, or something along those lines, was trying to get everyone's attention. Currently all the acts who had got through to the semi-finals were seated in a large dining area, chatting lazily and loudly with each other after having just finished their dinner, which was courtesy of the Millennium Contest of course. Oh Man! Were they going to regret paying for all of Allen's food! That guy could eat so much cake!

"Excuse me?" The man said again, he was an odd fellow with black hair with a white section in it, and he was speaking far to quietly.

Everyone continued talking.

"OI! EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW!"

The room fell silent as all eyes fell upon a beautiful blonde haired woman who was stood with her hands on her hips next to the quite man. Her expression was one of annoyance. "Thank you." she said curtly, folding her arms across her chest. The man seemed to have gained some confidence after the entrance of the blonde woman.

"Hello." Attention turned him, "My name is Arystar Krory the Third, but most people call me Krory." A few murmurs erupted at 'the Third', but they were silenced as he gestured to the still slightly angry woman. "And this is Eliade. We're here to tell you the organisation of this week. Basically, your going to be organised into groups. Certain groups will perform on each day, leading up to the final. Now listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once!"

Lavi listened as Krory read out the details. It seemed that DGRAYMAN was performing on Tuesday, they had to go to the theatre in the morning and got three practices on stage...from then on it was just them and a room where they could practice as much as they needed.

Having it on Tuesday meant they had the day off tomorrow. He turned to face his band mates; Kanda was sat up straight with his eyes closed, Allen was playing with table cloth and Linalee...Linalee had that evil look in her eye which meant trouble for all of them.

"Good luck everybody." Krory finished with and turned to leave. Eliade turned to look at the group, "By the way! We'll be coming to see you in your rooms later to sort out lighting, equiptment and the like. So _do not_ leave this Hotel until we have come to see you!" Everyone flinched and nodded. "Oh. There's also going to be a party for you all in two of the back rooms...as a...celebration of you all getting at least this far. Room 3A for sixteen years and over. Room 4C for the younger kids. Any questions?"

"Will there be alcohol?" shouted a voice.

"Yes, in 3A." she replied simply, before leaving the room.

Cheers erupted throughout the dining hall. Well, apart from Allen who visibly paled. Lavi reached over and patted him on the shoulder, "You all right Lil'Buddy?" Allen laughed sheepishly, "Bad experiences with alcohol...remember." Lavi thought for a moment, "Oh yeah. I remember...you mentioned that at the fair didn't you?" Allen nodded, following as Lavi stood from his chair and began the epic adventure to their room; which consisted of three hallways, one lift and three wrong turns.

^PlayingThePart^

"Alleeeeeen~" Linalee sung, gripping the boy's arm as they entered their suite (which is probably more like a mini-apartement than a suite). "Linalee?" he asked, sliver eyes turning to look up at the grinning girl. "We've got the day off tomorrow. I want you to help me plan out something we can do. I know! What about the London Eye? Tate Modern? Oh! How about Madame Tussauds?" Allen laughed. "Alright Linalee, but remember we've still got the rest of the week..."

Their voices died down as they entered Linalee and Kanda's room. Lavi sighed and slumped down on the sofa, flicking on the TV and looking for something decent to watch. He finally decided on what seemed to be a re-run of The Gadget Show, watching as Jason Bradbury animatedly told him about the new gaming apps on the market. "You know what?" Lavi said, Kanda glanced at him. "Do I dare ask 'what'?"

"I," Lavi said, tapping away at his phone, "am going to download 'Zombie Run'." Kanda rolled his eyes, "I _hate_ to disappoint you. But you need either an Android or an I-phone to get that." Lavi grinned and chucked his mobile at the Japanese man. "Looky."

"When on earth did you get an I-phone?" Kanda asked, a faint note of disbelief in his voice. Lavi sighed, "Gramps got given it for some new historical loop-holes he found. But he's not to good on this whole technology thing, so he sent it to me as 'Congratulations'." Kanda threw the sleek item back through the air, making it land neatly in Lavi's lap with his Japanese ninja powers. Perhaps it held a little more force than necessary, but Lavi was sure that was just so Kanda could induce pain upon someone else.

Lavi rolled onto his back, legs bent over the back of the sofa and head hanging upside down off of the front. He watched idly as the channels were changed again finally settling upon London Ink. The red head snickered as a large hairy man cried out in pain as some dude tattooed a skull onto his back. Kanda muttered something along the lines of, "Wimp." Lavi rolled his head to look at him, "Oh yeah. You have a tattoo don't you, Yuu?"

"Do not call me that!" Kanda snapped out of habit before replying, "Congrats on remembering stupid rabbit." Lavi pouted, "Now. You see that's just not fair! Why do you get to call me names when I can't even call you by your first?"

Kanda chose to ignore his question.

Lavi huffed, "At any rate, what song do you think we should perform on Tuesday? I was thinking etiher S.O.S, Streets Of Nowhere or New Divide...Any particular one tickle your fancy Yuu?"

Kanda once again ignored the use of his first name, seemingly tired of Lavi acting like...well Lavi, "I'd go for new Divide...It's got a good beat, plus you've been singing that the longest and it's got a decent bit of keyboard in for that midget."

"I am not a midget. I'm 5'6"*" Said the seemingly disembodied voice of one Allen Walker. Lavi swivelled his head round, Linalee and Allen were standing behind the sofa and had apparently caught the end of their conversation. Kanda rolled his eyes, "Well I'm 5'8" so as far as I'm concerned you _are _a midget."

"I'm only two inches shorter than you!" Allen half-shouted indignantly. Linalee laughed, "If it's any consolation Allen I'm only 5'5". So you're taller than me." Allen tilted his head to that side, looking at the taller-girl-who-was-actually-shorter-than-him. "Really? How come you've always looked taller?"

Linalee giggled, "The power of high-heels my friend." Allen began to mutter something along the lines of 'Well that's just unfair.' when Lavi rose from the sofa, all gazes flicked to him. "Well. I'm 5'10". Which makes _me _the tallest. So in my opinion you are _all _ midgets!" He said triumphantly, receiving glares from the other members of the band. He slowly swaggered over to Allen, "But. I'm a good four inches taller than my lil'buddie. So I can do this." Lavi abruptly lent his folded arms across the top of a mop of silky white hair.

"GAH! Oi! Lavi! Get your bloody arms off of my head!" Allen cried, desperately tugging at the slightly tanned arms. Linalee looked on in amusement as Allen pulled his own body forward trying to escape from the tallest member of their group. However it seemed as though Lavi was too strong for the white haired artist who eventually gave up, folded his arms and huffed.

"So," Linalee began. "New Divide then?" Allen did his best to nod his head, "Yeah. We need a really good one to get through to the finals...and Kanda has a point, I can rock that one!"

Abruptly there was a knock at the door. "Ah!" Lavi said, turning to face the source of the sound, "That must be Krory and Eliade!" The red head bounced over to the door, dragging Allen by the head. "Gerrof Lavi!" he whined. Once again there was a knock at the door, "Hey Al. Will ya get that for me? If I take my arms of your head you'll run away." Allen's facial could only be described as 'Oh for fucks sake!'.

Allen reluctantly opened the door, "Hey..." he mumbled. "Hello~" Lavi chimed, still resting atop Allen's head. "Uh...Hi." That certainly wasn't a feminine voice, and unless Krory had developed a Portuguese accent and dropped his Transylvania one in the space of a few hours it wasn't him either. Lavi looked at the man in the doorway. He recognised him, tanned skin, wavy black hair, gold eyes and a beauty mark. Tyki Mikk, lead singer of Noah's Ark.

"Sorry~" Lavi chimed, "We thought you were Eliade and Krory." Lavi could actually _feel _Allen roll his eyes. "I _think_ he's more concerned about the fact that you are _leaning on my head_!" he shouted, elbowing the eighteen year old behind him in the stomach. Lavi staggered backward with a grunt of pain, "Ow...you have really bony elbows...your a damn sadist...I've mentioned that before..." Allen just smiled sweetly.

"Sorry about them." Linalee said, by this time herself and Kanda had wondered over to the door. Tyki and Wisely stood awkwardly outside of the door. "So, what brings you here?" she asked, Linalee was an expert at turning an awkward scene (normally caused by her male companions) completely on it's head. "I bet the rabbit broke something again." and there was Kanda once again taking the awkward up a notch.

"Awkward Turtle," Lavi placed the palm of one hand onto the back of his other, locking his fingers together and moving his thumbs.

"Makes awkward," Lavi untangled his hands, creating two fists bumping them together.

"Babies!" he finished with a flourish, making the thumbs and little fingers of his hands move slightly.

It was a moment where you would fully expect a tumble weed to just roll through the room.

"Allen, could you take Lavi to his room please?" Linalee asked. Allen nodded, clearly trying to stifle oncoming hysteria, and gently nudged Lavi into their shared room. Gazes followed them until the door softly clicked shut. There was a moment of silence between the two boys, both avoiding the others gaze, knowing that if they made eye contact the laughter would escape it's cage.

However, the inevitable can never be avoided.

Green met grey.

Laughter ripped through the room, ruffling hair, making sides burn and faces flush, bringing tears to eyes, making the beds creak and the sheets rustle. Allen rolled around on his bed, one hand placed over his mouth in a vain attempt to still the loud noises of joy. Lavi was knelt on the floor, the upper half of his body draped onto his bed fist clenched and thumping the mattress.

"Wh...what..the hell...was..._that_?" Allen finally managed to gasp out. Lavi wiped a tear from his eye, "Ooooh~, I learnt it from I girl in secondary school. I just suddenly remembered it...it just seemed so appropriate." Allen shook his head, "Sometimes I really do worry for your sanity Lavi."

Lavi reached over and patter him on the shoulder, "So did a lot of people Allen. But they all gave up." The red head retracted his hand and stood up from the floor, he smoothed out his shirt and proptly plopped down onto the bed next to his shorter friend. They sighed in unison, "So how long do you think it'll be 'till Linalee lets us out?" Allen asked.

^PlayingThePart^

Have you ever noticed how everyone acts like a little kid? Take for example the phrase _'That's what she said.'_ , probably one of _the_ most childish things to say to anyone...ever. (Well that and _'It wasn't me!'_ when it oh so clearly _was_ you.) Yet adults could be heard uttering it. And then there were the out of the blue arm wrestling matches, complicated handshakes, coded words and pointless arguments.

Lavi and Allen acted like little kids. Especially when they got bored.

Currently they were completing their 'Race Track' made out of random items. "Annnnnnnd...Done!" Lavi said triumphantly, placing one of his shoes at the end of the track. Allen looked up at their creation proudly. Placing the toy car, which had been in one of Lavi's socks for some reason (oh man had there been some jokes about that.)

"3...2...1...GO!" Lavi cried.

The car whizzed down a ramp made of the road map, flew threw the air and onto a staircase of books, built up momentum as is passed under Allen's bed, raced through a winding tunnel of pillows, dashed up a ramp made of Allen's open laptop, onto a bridge, crashed into a barrier made of Lavi's shirts, plopped into the bath and slid up the other side causing it to jump into a can, knocked over the can, met another barrier, turned back into their room, leapt up using Lavi's I-Pad propped onto a pillow, rolled onto the edge of the bed sheet which was pulled into the air by Lavi, the car rolled down the tilted sheet (Allen weighing it down at the other end) as Lavi pulled it around where it finally thumped into the red heads trainer.

"YEAH!" Lavi cried, jumping into the air. "I can't believe that worked!" Allen gasped, high-fiveing Lavi. The red head turned a shining green eye toward his white haired friend, throwing an arm around his shoulders and grabbing his phone out of Allen's hands. He flipped it around, "Yo, Creepy people of the web! You just witnessed the most _epic_ racecourse made of whatever we could find. Leave a comment telling us how brilliant it was!...and how sexy I look." he winked as best he could at the camera.

Allen sighed turning the camera to him, "Yes. _Thank You,_ Lavi. Anyways, you remember me right? If not, let me introduce myself, I'm Allen Walker. Nice to meet you. We're performing on Tuesday! Watch, _vote_ and wish us luck, please~"

"Well," Lavi turned the camera. "We're off to a Party later...with us luck for that too! See ya!"

^PlayingThePart^

Kanda was checking up on the bands documents. He was reading through Email and dragging his was through the various bills and receipts, trying desperately to find out the bands average spending on things like instrument maintenance. It wasn't his choice to be doing this, but Linalee had asked.

Finally the long haired teen came to -MAN's official YouTube account, he hated to admit it but they _finally_ had a decent layout thanks to the whiny beansprout's GCSE in Graphic Design. He was in a relatively okay mood...well that was until he saw _their_ new video. A vein popped in his head.

"Linalee!" He yelled, "Have you _seen_ what _they_ have put on YouTube?"

The now short haired girl wandered over to Kanda, running a hand through her hair, tiredness showing on her face. "This better be important Kanda. I was having a nap." Kanda mentally flinched. "Look." he said, playing the video.

Linalee watched silently.

She smiled slightly, "Those two..."

^PlayingThePart^

"So do you understand?"

Eliade and Krory were perched onto one of the sofa's in -MAN's suite. Lavi had a look of concentration spread across his face as he absorbed all the information about the up and coming contest. "I got it." he said finally, glancing at the others to check they were okay too.

The pale man offered a small smile, carefully he slid some papers onto the coffee table. "H-here's a list of the acts which are performing. It's just their photo's and names...it's to help you learn everyone's names before meeting them. W-we thought it might help at the party later." Linalee picked them up gently with words of thanks.

"Well we best be going." Eliade said, standing up and brushing non-existent dust from her skirt. "Bye guys." the pair said, casually strolling out the suite and into the hall way. The door clicked shut behind them. "Anybody want a cup of tea?" Allen asked, looking over his shoulder as he strolled to the kettle.

"Oh yes please." Linalee said, sitting down where Eliade had left.

"Coffee." stated Kanda, Allen twitched in annoyance..

"Tea for me too, please~" Lavi said cheerily, shooting Allen a winning smile which made the younger boy roll his eyes.

After the kettle was boiled and the table held four mugs of liquid in various shade of brown, the four friends, who had grown unusually close over the past month or so, set about remembering the acts. Lavi flicked through it briefly, "Well it doesn't seem to be in any order...lets just start at the beginning."

"That's what the beginning is for. Idiot." Guess who said that one. Yep, Kanda.

"Alrighty! First up is..." slowly they ploughed through the list. Occasionally finding an interesting group.

Lavi pointed at a group, "Oooh. They look cool!" Indeed they did, Allen agreed. It was a band of four members, much like their own, there were two older men standing either side of the two younger members. They had a rock look too them, there was a lot of black and intricate dragon patterns decorated their clothes.

"Their group name is 'Winged Revolution'," Lavi said, reading the information on the sheet aloud. "Apparently they're a rock band...kind of like us...On the left is Kurogane Suwa, drummer. I mean you can tell! Just look at him! Strong arms, black hair and red eyes! Red eyes! Scary bloke, must be a drummer!"

"Watch what you say about drummers, rabbit!"

"Ahaha! Sorry~ Anyways, next would be...Sakura Li, sometimes referred to as Princess Sakura. She's cute and an amazing bassist...Linalee she's _your_ competition." Linalee smirked, muttering something about 'flat chested'. Allen giggled. Lavi snapped his fingers, grabbing the attention of the others.

"Oi! Pay attention!...Right this guy," Lavi pointed at the third member, "is Syaoran Li...related maybe? I dunno. Anyway he is lead guitar, and apparently very very good." Allen pointed at the last member, a tall blond guy with pale white skin and blue eyes. "That," Lavi said, "Is Fai . Lead singer and..." he turned to look at Allen, "Pianist."

Allen snickered, "Don't worry. You're forgetting, I rock!"

^PlayingThePart^

"Oh! Here's another one that did really well in auditions." Linalee said, prodding the image of a boy band. "Ooooh~ They're cute!" Allen chipped in, glancing over Linalee shoulder. "What are their names? I think I may need their numbers." Linalee laughed and gave him a high five, "Me too.".

"Tamaki's the tall blond. Kyoya's the one with glasses. Hikaru and Kaoru are the twins. Mori is the tanned one and Honey is the small blond." Allen raised an eyebrow, "Weird names". "But," Linalee said, ginning up at Allen, "They're hot." Allen nodded his head, "True."

Kanda and Lavi scowled at the image of the boy band. "I detest boy bands." Lavi said venomously. Allen raised an eye brow. "All they do is sing in unison and dance slightly! They don't have any real talent! They only get into the business because of their looks." Lavi mumbled. Allen snickered and patted him on the shoulder. "Awwwww diddums!"

"Oh. Go away!" Lavi said jokingly.

^PlayingThePart^

"How about Inevitable? They look different." Allen chipped in as they neared the end of the band listings. Lavi pressed his chin onto Allen's shoulder and peered round his hair at the picture. Allen fidgeted nervously, sometimes Lavi really did come a _little_ too close.

"Hmmmm..." he humed out, gazing at the photo. Inevitable were a three person band, there were two males; one with black hair and glasses and one with tanned skin and a bored expression. The lead singer was a beautiful women with long black hair and ruby red eyes. Apparently they were a jazzy band. Quite different from the others in the competition.

"They look okay." Lavi mumbled, bathing in Allen's sent.

"Hmmmm. You never know, they might just be a black horse."

^PlayingThePart^

"What do you think of 'The Walking Dead', Kanda?" asked Linalee. Kanda raised an eyebrow, "They're different. Screamo and heavy-metal, aren't they?" Linalee nodded. "Hmmm different. Maybe not popular with the public, but one to look out for."

^PlayingThePart^

"Sooooo." Lavi said, twirling in a circle. "How do I look?"

Allen looked him over critically. Lavi was dressed in black skin tight jeans adorned with a chequered 'Emo Belt', as he called it, which was probably an extra-large and hung down at the back. Allen wondered if Lavi realised how that belt sat just below his ass, peoples eyes would be drawn to it like girls were to chocolate cake. His feet were hidden by a pair of red high-tops, the laces loose, untied and tucked into the side.

His top half was covered with a red shirt with the words _'I'm Just That Epic'_ printed onto it, Allen rolled his eyes as he read that. Over the top of that was a loose black waist-coat type thing, floppy like a jumper, with a few golden trimmings. His hair was loose, eye patch was on and looked ready to go.

"If I were you," Allen began critically, "I would wrap a couple of those 'Man Necklaces' round your neck and put your 'Man Bracelets' back on. It'll make you look less boring." Allen considered saying something about the belt, but then he realised that he'd need _something_ to look at if he got bored.

"Thank you oh almighty mini Gok Wan!"Lavi praised, fishing said items out of the small draw in the bed side cabinet. Allen kicked him in the shin for the comment. Lavi whined in protest at his now, supposedly, throbbing shin. Allen pulled on his famous 'little girl' smile, turning his lips up into a look of cute evilness.

Allen tugged on the sleeve of his deep purple shirt, making sure it was properly positioned. One sleeve hung off of his slender frame, exposing the pale skin of his left shoulder, and the hem slipped down past his hips. His legs were still clad in his overly tight black skinny dreams, and a pocket chain thumped against his leg. His hair was flicking out naturally and tickled the edges of his cheeks. A shining silver pocket watch was tied around his neck on a silver chain, Lavi eyed it noticing that the hands were actually moving.

"Oi!" Called an, as usual, irritated Kanda. Lavi grinned and pulled open the door with a flourish, dramatically bowed at the Japanese boy, paraded into the room, bowed onto one knee in front of Linalee and pretended to kiss her hand. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting with this pour excuse of a guard, My Lady Linalee." Linalee snickered, "Oh it was no problem Master Lavi. I assure you and Lord Walker changed with little difficulty?"

"We did indeed M'Lady." Allen said from his position by the door, sweeping into a graceful bow. "But our comfort is not as important as your safety. I too apologize for leaving you with such an pitiful excuse for a man, let alone a guard." He smiled.

"Please accept our most humble apologies." Lavi and Allen said in unison, "We will be sure to fire that ignorant man."

Linalee burst into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth with one had as her eyes scrunched up in mirth. Kanda twitched in anger. The boy wheeled around, hair making a satisfying 'thwak' sound across Lavi's face, and stormed through the door. Lavi and Allen collapsed into one another, snickering uncontrollably.

"You might wanna go after him Lina." Lavi said, rubbing tears from his eye. "God only knows what might happen when he's _that_ pissed off." Linalee looked a little concerned for her own well being for a moment. But then she nodded her head and copied Kanda by exiting the room, albeit without the slam.

Lavi turned to flash a grin at the shorter boy. "Well." He said, grabbing Allen's attention as silver met green. "Shall we venture down to this party then?" He dramatically opened the front door and stepped out after seeming Allen's small nod of approval. He was a bout to close the door when a hand stopped him, gently tugging on his elbow. He heard the slight rustling of fabric as Allen raised himself onto his tiptoes.

"You forgot the key." he whispered, breath ghosting across Lavi's ear. The red head blushed from embarrassment at both Allen's actions and the fact that he forgot the key. He mumbled something incoherently before stepping back into their room and snatching the keys off of the sofa. Strode out the door and shut it firmly.

"Happy now?" Lavi called, Allen having already began to wander down the hall. The white haired boy raised a hand above his head and waved it back at him, turning ever so slightly, and saying, "Very much so, thanks." Lavi rolled his eyes and hastily caught up with his friend, idling rambling about something or other as they continued to a party.

A party full of rowdy adults and hyper teenagers.

A party vibrating with loud music.

A part with far too much alcohol for anyone's good.

What could _possibly_ go wrong?

^PlayingThePart^

"I dunno...I've had nothing but bad experiences when it comes to alcohol" Allen said, looking down at the strange coloured liquid. Lavi grinned, fingers wrapped around his own bottle of alcoholic liquid, as he pushed the cold glass into the smaller boys hand.

The party was already in progress by the time Allen and Lavi got down to the correct room. They'd gotten lost actually, and had to be shown the way by a worker called Tevak. They'd walked through the door to find people mulling around in groups, laughing, chatting and drinking. Sofa's and chairs were scattered around the room, there was a large open bar and music thudded out of speakers, loud enough to satisfy people, but not so loud that you had to shout to be heard.

No one was dancing. Correction, no one was _drunk_ enough to be dancing yet.

"You never know it might grow on you!" the red head said cheerily.

"What, like a fungus?"*Allen retorted sarcastically.

Lavi laughed, "Just try it. I even made sure to get something nice and sweet for you. Don't let my efforts be wasted." Allen glanced warily at the liquid before gingerly taking a small sip. The liquid burned the back of his throat slightly, and it tasted strange, but it was bearable.

Bearable, but _not_ enjoyable.

Allen coughed slightly and quickly brought the glass away from his lips. Pouting and wiping small droplets off of his chin with the back of discoloured hand. Lavi noticed that Allen had grown steadily more confident about his strange arm, the rough dark skin and blackened dead looking nails didn't seem to bother him as much. When Lavi had inquired as to why this was he had simply replied, "It's my body why should I give a damn about what others think?"

Lavi really did admire the boy's self respect and confidence. He subconsciously tugged at his eye patch, sometimes he really wished he could be like that. Lavi couldn't even look at his right eye in the mirror, let alone let others see it. The red head shook his head, dismissing the depressing thoughts and taking a swig of beer. Lavi had always been a beer type of person, it was hard to picture himself drinking something classy like wine.

"Well that was disgusting." Allen mumbled, thudding down onto a sofa. Lavi joined him, bottle resting in one hand. "You barely even tasted it! Give it a chance!" Allen shifted slightly, scowling slightly. Lavi watched idly as Linalee chatted with one of the boys from that detestable 'Boy Band', she seemed to be having fun. Kanda was perched against a wall, eyes closed, ignoring everyone.

"What's the deal with you and alcohol anyways?" Lavi asked, swivelling his eye to face Allen and silently thanking the 'God Of Sofa's' that Allen was sat on his left. Allen's face contorted into a look of disgust. "It's because of my Godfather." He said, clearly remembering some kind of child hood trauma.

"To cut a long story short: he used to get absolutely wasted. And then he'd either bring home women and I saw things no twelve year old should ever see. Or he made me do weird, horrible things." Lavi raised an inquisitive eye brow, urging Allen to continue. The boy next to him sighed.

"Okay. For example...one time he drank himself to near death, refused to pay and threw _me_ in when the bar workers got angry! I got attacked by six full grown men!" The boy was seething.

"Another time he came home and decided he wanted to get a pet lion. So you know what he did? Chucked me into the lion habitat at the zoo!"

"And the debts! Don't get me started on the amount of debts I've had to pay for him...I even worked in an illegal drug plantation." Allen muttered the last part under his breath, but Lavi caught it. The red head patted his now slightly angry friend on the head, watching as he took a long swig of his beverage.

"Ah well! Cheer up Allen. Just stick around and you can see how funny everyone else is while they're pissed." Allen laughed, "I'd quite like to see a dizy, giggly and over confident Kanda. I'd record it and use it as blackmail..."

Lavi snickered and clapped a hand on Allen's shoulder, "I don't think that's a bad idea."

"Ah. We didn't really get a chance to say 'Hello' earlier." came another familiar voice. Lavi mentally rolled his eyes, it was Tyki Mikk _again_. Lavi was beginning to think he was some kind of stalker. Allen of course smiled politely and stretched out a hand, "Sorry about that. My name's Allen Walker, nice to meet you."

Tyki smiled a predatory grin, "_Pleasure _to meet you Allen. I'm Tyki Mikk." The two shook hands and Lavi felt like snarling. There was no _way_ that that man should be around Allen. The way his eyes were drinking in the smaller boy's features, positively _staring_ at his exposed shoulder.

Tyki Mikk was a pervert. No doubt about it.

"Lavi Bookman." Lavi stated with a little more venom than was necessary. The standing man smirked, "Nice to meet you...Lavi." A moment of evil staring passed between the two. Allen had turned to them and was watching warily. Lavi broke the connection, drinking down the rest of his beer, "C'mon Allen. Let's go get another drink."

^PlayingThePart^

The party was in full swing now. And it turned out that Allen _really_ could not hold his alcohol. He hadn't even drunk _that_ much and he was already giggling like an idiot. Linalee's cheeks were tinted pink as well, Kanda was as still and silent as ever.

The large group was now sat on the floor around a flat table piled high with various drinks, crisps, sweets and various other foods. It wasn't exactly a 'banging rave party' more like a...'social gathering with a little too much food and drink for the amount of people who were actually attending'.

"All right people!" Called a voice, Lavi's eye noticed that it was the blonde man from Winged Revolution. Surprisingly, he actually managed to grab everyone's attention, it was probably something to do with the fact that he was sat on top of another man's shoulders. "It's time for a drinking game! Because, as far as I'm concerned, we're not nearly wasted enough yet!"

There were unanimous cheers of approval. This guy was a smooth talker, Lavi mused. "Will you get off of my god damn shoulders!" the man beneath him shouted. Allen giggled at their antics, falling onto Linalee. Lavi laughed and ruffled the boys hair.

"Oh! But Kurgy-" "My name's Kurogane god damnit!"

"Remind you of anyone Yu?" Lavi asked. "My name's Kanda!" said samurai snapped back.

Lavi made eye contact with the blond man, who was called Fai if he remembered correctly. Fai grinned at him and raised his hand for an air high-five. Lavi complied and winked as best as he could.*

Allen pushed himself back upright, and followed Lavi's gaze over to the blond man. Watching as his red headed friend's mouth twitched up into a bright smile. Allen looked away, jealousy twisting in his chest. But that jealousy was swept away as the young man was flung from the tanned shoulders of Kurogane and thudded to the carpet.

Laughter roared throughout the room. The members of Walking Dead rolled on their backs, wriggling around on the plush floor. Linalee folded in on herself in a fit of chuckles. Even the ever blank face of the guitarist from Inevitable cracked into a small smile.

"Right!" Fai said after pulling himself to his feet and thumping his companion across the back of the head. "Time to play 'I've never'!" There was a mumble of approval, "Gather round my children! Gather round! Don't worry Kuro-buro won't bite~"

Lavi had a feeling that this man was _all ready_ wasted.

"Does everyone know how to play?" chipped in Raymond, Lavi glanced over at the boy and noticed that he had ditched all the hair gel/putty/wax/spray/thing. The red head took another swig of his beer, revelling in the warm tingly feeling travelling up his spine.

Most nodded in agreement, others shook their heads but agreed that they'd catch on pretty fast. Allen just snickered and muttered something to Linalee which made her glance at Lavi and chuckle. Kanda mumbled something about drunk bean sprouts making a fool of themselves, and Lavi couldn't help but partially agree.

Perhaps more Alcohol for Allen was a bad idea.

However just as he was contemplating the idea of sending little Allen off up to bed, fully aware that he sounded like an overbearing parent, the game began. His white haired companion looked so enthusiastic about playing as well, but perhaps that was just the alcohol.

Lavi took get another long gulp of beer, polishing off the bottle and reaching for another.

One of the female members of Walking Dead started by saying, "I've never kissed a girl." Lavi drank to that, as did Allen, Kanda and most of the others. Linalee didn't though, which didn't really surprise him what with her brother and all. He watched as the group laughed when the next person followed up with "I've never kissed a boy."

Unoriginal but at least it got those questions out of the way.

Allen laughed loudly, "I'll drink to that!" Lavi couldn't help but laugh along with him, thinking that he looked absolutely adorable with reddened cheeks, messy hair and glass pressed lightly to soft lips as he giggled. Making the liquid slosh around inside it's container.

Thinking Allen was cute. Now that _was_ the alcohol talking. Wasn't it?

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi wasn't to sure how he ended up like this.

Lying on his back on one of the sofa's. Drink long forgotten, game long ago over. With one leg bent at the knee and shirt riding up a little. With long slender piano fingers cupping his face, curling slightly, nails grazing his cheeks.

He wasn't to sure when that light weight body had positioned itself above his own, or when he had wound his fingers into silky hair.

He couldn't remember when the giggles turned into mischievous grins. Or when his eye had closed.

He certainly couldn't recall how, why or when those soft petal pink lips had been pressed against his own.

He could recall when those kisses had become feverish, when things heated up. He remembered clearly how it felt when he ran his tongue along those lips, how the little shiver he earned just encouraged him more. He remembered when the battle began, lips and tongues sliding against each other. Fingers ghosting across ice cold skin as legs entwined together.

He remembered when he forgot himself in the familiar smell of the one above him. He remembered when the voices of the others washed away, and as he breathed in the very essence of the small pianist straddling his lap.

Lavi Bookman didn't remember how or when he began to kiss Allen Walker. However right now he, quite frankly, didn't care.

Lavi figured that sometimes things happened that had no explanation. And as he felt those fingers tug urgently on his hair, and those lips move against his once again, he figured that sometimes things happened that _needed_ no explanation.

^PlayingThePart^

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

*Awww! Crap he's taller than me! TT^TT If he's a midget what does that make me? HANG A TROUT! He...he's taller than my dad? How in the-

*Awkward Turtle? As Lavi said, learnt it from a mate at school~

*Recognise those characters? Yes. Well I ran out of DGM characters!

*My mum and dad said this while we were watching Eurovision Song Contest. 'You never know, Blue might grow on you' says my mother, 'What? Like a fungus' replies father ;D lolz

*I really think Fai and Lavi would get along~ They've got the same personalities.

**POLL RESULTS:**

Okay, first of all...Thank You~ For voting that is~

And secondly...boy did those results make me laugh!

**(Age – Number Of People – Comment)**

12 – 0 – Phew! Am I glad about that or what!

13 – 1 – Okay...So I'm a little disappointed in 'You' whoever you are~ 13? Seriously?

14 – 2 – Interesting...

15 – 4 – Very interesting...

16 – 5 – Even more Interesting...

17 – 3 – I actually feel a little honoured. Awwww~

18+ - 2 – Wow! I'm extremely honoured!

Alrighty! Well just so you lot know...I am...*drum roll*...

**15!**

WAIT!

I _am_ 15 now. However I was 14 when I posted the poll~ (damn you birthdays!) So you guys were right too...but most of you thought I was older anyways...so HAZAA!

Cya next chapter


	13. Reconsidering The Name Of Safety Pins

**IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE:** Ehem. This is a warning...as of _this_ chapter the rating of _Playing The Part_ is rising to an M. For...very strong implications.

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN:** Reconsidering The Name Of Safety Pins

Forgetfulness.

One of the most frustrating traits to have. There are two types of forgetfulness, the first is when you forget things that happened a long time ago. When you find yourself dragged into conversations about 'that thing we did last month' and you haven't the foggiest what everyone's talking about.

That kind of forgetfulness is okay. You can just smile and nod, cunningly listening to other people talk until those rusty cogs of memory finally click into place in your head.

The second type is more frustrating. This is when you forget the tiny little things, all the time. For example, your about to get on the bus, you forgot which pocket you put your ticket in, you search, can't find it, tell the bus driver to go on only to find out five minutes later that it was in your bag the entire time.

This kind of forgetfulness is worse because, quite frankly, it makes you look and feel like a complete idiot.

^PlayingThePart^

It felt weird, Lavi decided.

The feeling of slightly padded hammers bashing the inside of your skull, as the heavy thud of a drum sent vibrations down the line of toothbrushes which used to be your spine. It felt different, painful and far to familiar.

"Damn hang overs." the red head grumbled, rolling onto his side. He pressed gingerly on the bridge of his nose, prying open his uncovered eye only to snap it shut again at the harsh glare of light that threatened to burn out his iris.

He tried to deduce his surroundings.

He was most definitely lying in a bed, he could feel the mattress shifting beneath him. He was in a bed that felt familiar...so he was in his own bed? No, that wasn't quite right.

He was at a hotel wasn't he? With the band? So this must be his be in their room.

He had a terrible hang over, which meant he had been drinking. But there were no crusted over tear tracks on his face, so he hadn't slipped into a depression. Which...was good.

He shifted slightly. A breeze slipping under the covers.

He had a realisation.

Lavi Bookman was butt naked.

He shifted uncomfortably, it didn't bother him too much at the present moment that he was stripped of all his clothing. His head was the thing that was causing him to wince.

His foot brushed against something cold. Something soft and cold. Something soft, cold an moving slightly.

"That was a leg..." Lavi muttered to himself.

Now this was either really really good or really really bad. And, unfortunately, the only way to find out which was to open his eye. For some reason, probably the alcohol, his eyes weighed a lot more than he remembered. It was like dragging a turtle covered in sand paper through a vat of syrup.

Lavi momentarily stopped in his efforts. Turtle wrapped in sand paper? Where had that come from? It was like Allen and the hamsters...what had he been doing again? Oh right, opening his eyes...

The red head peeled his eyes open and his gazed settled upon the other occupant of the bed. He decided to start at the feet. Long legs and an angular hip were hidden beneath the duvet, tiny hints of skin revealing themselves every so often.

Tantalising, really.

Lavi dragged his eyes up further, settling on the face of his sleeping companion.

This, was very very ultimately unbelievablytragically horrifyingly _epically_ bad.

^PlayingThePart^

In an amazing combination of frantic panic and quiet skill, Lavi fled from the bed, tugged up some clothes and slid into the bathroom.

The first thing he said, as soon as he had locked the door and let suddenly very heavy clothes slip from his hands, was "Shit."

He repeated that word a total of seventeen times, pacing across the bath mat, before sitting dejectedly on the toilet seat. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, fingers scratching at red eye brows.

"Maybe nothing happened..." he said, trying to reassure himself. However as soon as he opened his eyes and gazed down at a familiar, albeit a dried version, substance splashed across his chest and abdomen...Lavi felt that all hope was lost.

"Bollocks! Shit, fuck, crap, bloody, freaking, god dammit!" he swore.

He punched his thigh and tried to grab a tight hold of his emotions, which currently seemed to be trying their very hardest to win a hundred metre sprint.

Lavi ran a hand through his red hair, climbing into the shower and letting the warm water create patterns on his skin. He scrubbed himself clean, he slowly lost the will to stand. His body leant itself against the tiled wall, lowering itself until it was sat on the floor.

Water gushed across his skin, splashing onto his back as he buried his face in his knees.

He raised his head slowly, letting it lean against the wall, droplets of water bursting on his cheeks.

"I had sex with Allen Walker..." he muttered

^PlayingThePart^

Saying it out loud, made the situation seem just that little bit more real.

Lavi was now sat on the floor of the bathroom, wearing only his jeans, with a towel flopped over his hair.

"What am I going to do?" he whispered, not daring to raise is voice due to the unconscious occupant of the other room.

In situations such as this, the logical part of Lavi's brain takes over by bitch-slapping the hysterical part until it dropped down dead. As this happened, the eye patched boy whipped his head up. The logical part of his brain pumping one thought into his mind.

"Did we use protection?" he asked himself, eyes wide.

"Oh dear god! No no no no. STI's...you're more likely to get one if you have sex with another dude...aren't you? Yes, I remember that from Sex Ed. Oh shit...Maybe Allen was a virgin?" he asked himself.

"No, that's a stupid idea. But he doesn't seem the type to sleep around, but I've only known him...what...four maybe five weeks? Oh man I'm screwed! I don't even remember anything! Ah bullshit, what if he remembers. I doubt it, he is a lightweight after all ... but ... I ... maybe ... aaarghhhhh!"

"I'm gunna need help with this..."the red head mumbled, playing with his toes, taking note of the fact that his left big toe nail still hadn't heeled properly from that biking accident a year ago. He twiddled his toe, the nail was more rounded, and arched upward but was solid all the way down to the skin.

"Who should I go to...Kanda? No, just no. Not Gramps...Linalee. Yeah, Linalee'll know what to do...I hope." he said, all but I tiny sliver of hope had floated away into space.

With his whole body feeling as if it weighed at least five stone more than usual, he picked himself up off the floor and shrugged on the shirt he had picked up. Why he owned a shirt with a llama on, he didn't know.

He unlocked the door and was relieved to see that Allen was still fast asleep. The red headed fool quietly tiptoed over to the door and opened it as quietly as physically possible, he slipped into the living area and clicked the door shut behind him.

"Good morning Lavi." chimed a familiar voice.

"Hey, Linalee." he replied, slumping down on the sofa. The Chinese girl handed him some pain medication, he swallowed them with a nod of thanks. He noticed that the younger girl wasn't in much of a better state than him. Her eyes looked tired, and Lavi was 99.9% certain that they would look worse if it wasn't for the concealer she had dusted over the dark circles.

"Fun night eh?" she said, grinning slightly as she pulled her legs up onto the sofa. She buried her face into a large hoody which Lavi was sure belonged to Kanda.

Lavi shook his head, "Urgh. I don't even remember most of it. I remember all the way up to the drinking games and then...poof...all gone." Linalee offered him a small smile, "Same here...well almost..." her brows furrowed in concentration.

"Hang on...do...do you not remember making out with Allen on the sofa?" she asked nervously.

Lavi thudded his head into his hands, "Oh no. I remember _that, _I just don't know what happened _afterwards_."

"Ah." Linalee said simply, glancing at the door which Allen was likely still sleeping behind.

"'Ah' Indeed" Lavi mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Did something happen when you woke up?" she questioned, concern written on her gentle features. Lavi shook his head, "Not exactly. But...I did wake up next to...next to _him_ wearing nothing and covered in...in..."

"I got it." Linalee said, sparing the red head some embarrassment. There was a moment of silence, "What are you going to do?" she asked finally.

"I honestly don't know." Lavi said, his voice cracking slightly. The Chinese girl reached over and gave him a reassuring hug. "Hey, it'll be okay. Your not even sure if anything happened right? How about you wait and see if you can remember anything. I'm sure Allen would understand anyway...he's a good guy."

Lavi smiled, "Yeah you're right. I'll just wait around and see if I can remember anything..." He turned his attention to the TV, feeling Linalee leave one comforting arm around him.

"Is there a particular reason your watching re-runs of _'Gok Wan's Fashion Road Show'_?" he asked, feeling his lips tug up in a lopsided smirk. Linalee laughed quietly, "No not really. Just nothing else on I guess."

"So what's the plan for today?" the red head asked, easily sliding his eye away from the screen where three women were being dressed in clothes that they probably didn't like all that much.

Linalee yawned and stretched her legs out, folding them over each other and resting her heels on the coffee table. "I think we should go down to the Tate. It's not very far, so we can walk which'll clear our heads. Plus it should be relatively cool and calm in there, not many screaming babies."

"Sounds good to me...urgh What's the time by the way?"

The Chinese girl brought up the clock on the TV, "Uhhhhh ten to one." Lavi ran a hand through his hair, "Out for lunch then?"

Linalee nodded, "KFC?"

"Sounds like a plan. What time do they need us back..." he mused, picking up the sheets of paper they had discarded the night before. His eyes trailed over various details, "Ahhah. The show starts at 7pm and they're carting us over there at half six so we can get seated before the general public come in...assuming Kanda an-"

"Kanda's all ready up. He said he couldn't bare to see your face when he felt this crap, so he stayed in his room." Linalee said, smiling sheepishly as she relayed the ever irritable Kanda's words to him.

Lavi laughed, "Okay then. Assuming..._he_," Lavi waved a hand in the general direction of his and Allen's room, "wakes up soon. We should be out by 1:30...stopping of at KFC...should give us around four hours at least to look around."

Linalee looked at him sadly. "What?" he asked, looking at the girls purple eyes.

"Is that how it is now? Your not even going to say his name?" she asked. Lavi flinched backward at her words, "Linalee...I..." he began, but was cut off at the sound of a door opening.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen stood in the door way, rubbing at bleary eyes and willing away an abominable headache.

"Morning guys." he mumbled, sounding horse and not to sure if there was even anyone in the room. He stumbled over to the 'not-so-mini-mini-bar', pulling out a bottle of water. Raising it to dry lips he drank half of it down without even stopping for air.

"Whoa. Allen you look terrible." Linalee said as the small boy flopped down onto the other sofa, burying his face into the cushions.

"Thank you Linalee that makes me feel so much better." he said, fumbling with the painkillers that had just been thrown at him by an unusually quiet Lavi.

"Sorry Allen. I mean you _look_ good, clothes and hair wise, you just _sound_ terrible. And you have bags under your eyes." she said. Allen rolled his eyes, swallowing two tablets with a gulp if water. Throwing the now half empty packet back at the brooding red head.

"Not sounding any better there Linalee..." Allen paused, coughing a few times to clear his throat. "Urgh...where's the ball of sunshine?" he asked, folding his arms and pulling his jumper closer to his body.

"Said he couldn't bare to see my face when he felt this crap." Lavi said, staring intently at the TV. Allen furrowed his eye brows and turned to Linalee, _"What's his problem?"_ he asked with his eyes, jabbing a thumb in Lavi's direction.

"Tired." Linalee mouthed.

"Oh..." Allen trailed off. He had seen Lavi when he was tired, he got whiney and slightly pissy but he never acted like this. Allen felt completely ignored, it was a feeling he was used to...but not from Lavi. The last time Allen had looked this bad Lavi had babied him, not that he was expecting the same treatment or anything.

But still. Lavi was acting weird...well...weirder than usual. Maybe he was like this with a hangover?

Allen shifted on the sofa, uncomfortable with the current atmosphere. Abruptly a sharp and unwelcome pain shot up his back. "Shit." he hissed, reaching a hand round to rub at his spine.

"You okay?" Linalee asked, looking concerned as the boy rubbed his own back. Allen's eye brows furrowed, "Yeah...I'm okay. Back hurts though...but I did wake up in a weird position...so no surprise there."

The grey eyed boy noticed Lavi's gaze flick to him and then flick away again twice as fast. Allen almost huffed in annoyance.

"I'll go get Kanda and then we can head down to KFC and then the Tate." Linalee said, rolling to her feet and walking away.

Allen's thoughts considerably brightened, he loved the Tate. Walking around it always made him feel happy, not to mention he hadn't been in _ages_. Maybe the calming atmosphere would relax him enough to ignore the flickering stares of one Lavi Bookman.

Allen turned his head to the sound of a slightly muffled argument. He sighed, Linalee would be a while. He turned his attention to the TV, snorting quietly at the ever over reacting 'fashionista'. He folded his legs and felt another stab of pain race up his spine. He shifted uncomfortably, pointedly ignoring Lavi's now constant stare.

Allen put up with the stare for a few minutes, but when it didn't waver he began to feel just a little annoyed.

"You're staring." he stated, gaze never leaving the TV screen.

"Huh?" came the reply. Allen turned to fix his gaze with the red heads. "You're staring." he repeated, Lavi blinked.

Their gazes remained connected for a few more moments, before green shifted away leaving grey full of confused anger. Allen was about to open his mouth and say something, when he realised he really had nothing to say. What was he _supposed_ to say?

"_Sorry but would you mind telling me why your acting like a dick head?"_ Well that _would_ do, except Lavi hadn't really done anything...which _was_ the problem here. But how was he supposed to phrase that?

"_Is there a particular reason that your doing nothing?"_ But if he was doing nothing what was there for him to complain about? So if he complained about Lavi, who wasn't actually doing anything _that_ bad...wouldn't that make him the one acting more out of the ordinary. Which would in turn give Lavi all the more reason to ignore him.

"Damn it." Allen muttered, that bloody rabbit had him stuck in a corner.

Small talk, Allen decided. Small talk was always the answer.

"So, Lavi. Have you been to the Tate before?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

"Yes."

"What's your favourite art style?"

"Don't have one."

"Do you like abstract?"

"Suppose."

Allen sighed, well this was going no where, perhaps small talk _wasn't _always the answer.

It was probably better he just gave up.

He folded his arms and shifted around, making sure his back was facing the red head, and lay down.

"Ah!" Allen gasped, trailing of into a whimper as yet another stab of pain shot up his spine. Now Allen wasn't stupid, he knew this pain. Felt it before once or twice. This was the lower back pain of rough drunken sex.

He wasn't surprised really. He had got drunk before, and the same thing had happened. The pain would usually disappear within the hour, although judging by the pain it may take a bit longer this time.

The only problem was the fact that Allen had absolutely no idea _who_ he had slept with.

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi was sat grumpily in one of the red chairs, which were a strange padded plastic, that were situated in KFC...If one could sit in a grumpy fashion.

Why was he so grumpy?

Linalee.

Linalee was against him.

Damn it she was doing everything in her power to make sure the he and Allen were left alone...together.

First it had been when they were walking, she had skipped ahead to 'chat with Kanda'. Although not a single word passed between the two, just Kanda walking silently with Linalee by his side.

Unfortunately this had left him alone with Allen.

And what was even more unfortunate, was the fact his memories were starting to return.

_'At some point, Lavi wasn't to sure when, He had pulled himself away from the delectable lips belonging to one Allen Walker. He decided that his own lips could be put to a much better use. He trailed sloppy kisses down a pale neck, stopping to nip and suck upon the pulse point and feeling it race under his ministrations._

_Long and very cold piano fingers slipped inside his shirt. They traced patterns and danced their way across his stomach and, slightly toned, abs. Where sober fingers would have stopped these carried on, dipping in-between his legs and rubbing at the red heads growing erection._

_Lavi groaned and pulled the smaller body closer, tongue returning to the inside of a mouth that tasted of fruity liquor and sugar. Hot and wet, their tongues wrestled for dominance. Tugging at each other, racking across the roofs of mouths and twisting around teeth. _

_Slowly resistance weakened until Lavi was left. Desperately driving his tongue deeper into the hot cavern belonging to Allen, listening to mewls and gasps that only egged him on._

_Allen broke away, flushed, panting and with lips swollen from kisses moaned out the one word Lavi had been waiting to hear, "Bedroom.".'_

And do you know what had brought on this _revelation?_

No?

It was Allen who, as they were walking into KFC , had stated "Damn. I left my phone in our bedroom."

Lavi folded his arms and glared holes into the so called meal sat in front of him. It wasn't as if the chicken filled burger had ever done anything drastic to offend him, he just needed to direct his annoyance at something.

And why not direct it at a battered dead chicken shoved between two chunks of bread that were over cooked and had unneeded amounts of sesame seeds shoved into them, surrounded with lettuce that was so limp it was barely even there and mayonnaise that was more water than anything else?

And that was a really long rhetorical question wasn't it?

Never mind, the point is that Lavi was attempting to burn holes in a meal he didn't particularly want using only one eye. Not that only having one eye was the problem here.

The problem was that he was really putting the others off of their food.

"Uh...Lavi?" said Allen tentatively, sounding far more like Linalee than the red head would like to admit, "Are you okay?"

And Lavi, not knowing what to say, replied with "The chicken offends me."

And to that, there really was nothing that could be said.

"Uhm...Okay? Well...Moving swiftly onward...how is everyone?" Allen said, changing the subject as best he could and looking at Linalee in a pleading manner.

Linalee took pity on the poor boy, "I think we're all okay...if a little more tired and grumpy than usual...but we were up pretty late..."

Allen nodded his head, "True. But everyone was up pretty late. Not to mention everyone was pissed...That reminds me...I wonder how _'Winged Revolution'_ are going to do today, their lead singer looked pretty wasted last night."

Linalee laughed, "That's rich coming from the boy who declared 'I must find myself a tutu before the hour is up! And I must place it upon my head with lady like grace and then I must ride my rainbow ostrich into the sunset to search for naked pixies!'"

Allen flushed bright red, pulling his beanie over his eyes. And what made the situation just that little bit more awkward and embarrassing for him was that fact that the group of men sat on the table next to them, all of whom were chubby and bald, began to laugh.

"Did you have to say that so _loud_ Linalee?" Allen whined, shrinking further into the plastic feeling chairs.

"Oh man up, Fag." Kanda said, huffing into his cup of 'blacker-than-the-black-colour-of-his-cold-dead-heart' coffee.

Allen scowled, "Doesn't that sentence qualify as a contradiction?" he asked sarcastically. The youngest member of the group pulled the straw of his sickly sweet milkshake into his mouth and sat back in defiance.

"Oi. Oi. You two." Linalee interrupted before Kanda had a chance to react, "We don't have enough time to argue, lets get a move on."

^PlayingThePart^

The band members walked silently down the road, dodging the bustling crowds that were everywhere in London. Allen had given up trying to count the amount of times his feet had been trodden on.

Shouts were echoing around there heads, so it was no surprise that none of them heard the call of a name that sounded so much like a word that could be used at any point in time. Yep you guessed it, Capybara! Why Capybara? Well a Capybara is essentially a _massive_ hamster. And we know how awesome hamsters are, they wear little capes and save the world. Did you know Batman was actually a hamster? He frequently found himself being targeted by the media, so he had to use Bruce (who was actually a robot he powered using a hamster wheel). So a Capybara is essentially a _giant_ Batman!

How cool is that?

But I digress, the name said wasn't Capybara (unfortunately). It was in fact...

"Yu!"

Naturally the four friends continued walking.

"Kanda Yu!"

Now there was no mistaking that.

All four band members stopped. Unfortunately they chose to loose all control of their feet as they were in the middle of a road. Which, you will know if you have ever done this or have ever seen someone do this, is a really panic inducing experience.

"Move!" Shouted some _kind hearted_ passer by.

Allen jumped as he turned to see a car hurtling towards him, he yelped.

The small boy placed one foot in front of the other and began to dash forward, noticing Kanda and Linalee had already ventured across safely. The bastards had left him behind!

He glanced behind him to see _that damned red head_ hadn't moved.

"Lavi!" he called, grabbing the taller boys wrist and pulling him forward, across the zebra crossing and safely onto the path. Victory!

Allen Walker's grey eyes darted up to Lavi's face, taking note of the slight confusion written across it. A green eye swivelled down to meet his, "Uh. Thanks." he said quickly, before walking away.

It was only once Lavi's warm wrist had been yanked from Allen's cold piano fingers, that he realised he had still been holding it. Allen made an annoyed sounding noise as he diligently flicked his white hair to the side and strode over to his group of friends.

As he stood next to Linalee he shot his best, most iciest glare at the red head opposite him. Linalee was watching Kanda, a small smile on her lips. Allen followed her gaze to the normally irritated Japanese man.

Allen's eyes went wide. He was shocked, appalled, confused and was that _sick _he could feel coming up?

What brought on this rather odd onslaught of jumbled up emotions?

Kanda was smiling. No, Allen _had_ seen Kanda smile..._once_. What was worse than Kanda smiling, was Kanda _laughing_.

"Holy Shit." he said, blinking and rubbing his eyes entirely convinced he was hallucinating. Linalee giggled. She seemed to be, unlike Allen, completely okay with this whole situation.

The small pianist looked over to his, although he would never admit it, friend and began to take note of the person he was talking too.

It was a boy, that much was certain. His hair was cropped short close to his neck, and long side bangs flopped lazily around his dark brown eyes as he laughed. And a small scar ran across the bridge of his nose.

All in all, pretty normal. And Allen was damn sure he'd never set eyes on the guy in his _life_.

"Uh Linalee?" questioned Allen. "Yep!" she replied, perhaps a little too cheerily for Allen's liking.

"Who..." he gestured at the guy who would, until further notice, be known as _'Nose-Scar-Dude'_. "Is that?" he asked. Linalee chuckled, flicking her eyes toward her white haired friend.

"That, is Alma Karma. Kanda's old friend, best friend actually." she said. Allen was confused, "Does he have something wrong with his brain? I mean, best friends with _Kanda_? Seriously?"

"Yep. Seriously." replied the voice, of not Linalee, but _'Nose-Scar-Du_- sorry Alma.

Allen looked away sheepishly, embarrassment written in fluorescent pen across his forehead. The brown haired stranger extended a hand, "Alma Karma, nice to meet you."

Allen shook his hand, "Allen Walker." he replied, in much the same way he had done with Lavi. Alma began to ramble on about he and Kanda met, Allen nervously glanced over to his red headed friend.

Lavi was glaring at him.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen walked slowly around the spacious galleries of the Tate Modern.

He peered closely at the artwork on display, loosing himself in the swirling colours and blends of texture.

They'd left Kanda with Alma, the latter claiming _'They just had to catch up with each other'. _Kanda had seemed willing enough, but it didn't seem to matter anyway Alma practically dragged the Japanese drummer into a bar. Waving dramatically at Linalee, Allen and Lavi before turning his back.

Allen liked art galleries. He really did. They were calm and spacious. At right at this moment, it meant he could get away from all the bloody glares, stares and chairs Lavi was throwing toward him.

Well, maybe chairs were an overstatement. But it was feasible. Lavi did seem to be _that _pissed of with him. And it rhymed, which was a plus.

As he turned a corner to take a better look at a rather odd looking sculpture...was that supposed to be a _tree_? Maybe a _man_? To be honest he had no idea, he heard Linalee's voice call from afar

"Allen, Lavi. I need to give my brother a call, and I need to get a couple of things sorted before we head to the show later...I'll see you guys back at the hotel."

And with that she left. No doubt grinning to herself about her _ingenious_ plan to get Lavi and Allen alone together. Well if she thought that was going to get Allen to apologise for something he wasn't entirely sure he did...that is if he needed to apologise...whatever.

Either way, Linalee's plan was not going to work. No way. Never. Not a chance in hell!

"So Lavi..." he said, as the red head appeared next to him.

"Hm?"

"Uh...How are you?" Oh that was just bloody brilliant wasn't it Allen. _How are you?_! Seriously! What are you, think in the head or something...moron.

"Fine." Ah. A useless reply to a useless question. You deserved that one Al.

"So...Uh...are you looking forward to the show later?" Ah. That's better.

"Hmm. It'll be interesting to see the competition, and to see who gets through." See. You ask a decent question, you get a decent reply. Learn from your mistakes, young one.

"True. But don't they announce the person going through at the beginning of the next show?"

"What are you on about? They announce it at the end..."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh..." Oh well done! You've just destroyed the potential conversation _again_! You're really not good at this are you Allen.

Allen sighed, arguing with himself after ever other sentence really wasn't helping. He began to fiddle shamelessly with his hat. Idly twisting the badges and safety pins that were there to make it look 'punkishly awesome'...as Lavi had so eloquently put it a few days ago.

Abruptly, there was a rather unpleasant pain in his right thumb.

He pulled his hand down in front of his eyes to notice a, surprisingly deep, gash across the pad of his thumb. Blood trickled down his finger and pooled into his hand.

He hissed and shoved the thumb into his mouth in an attempt to cease the bleeding. It wasn't a pleasant taste.

He grumbled in frustration, "As if today wasn't bad enough!"

And if this situation doesn't have quite enough irony in it for your tastes, it may amuse you to know that Allen sliced his thumb open on none other than a safety pin.

A Safety Pin. Now if that didn't qualify for a renaming, Allen dreaded to think what did. Maybe a Life Boat primarily used for transporting dead bodies, because everyone in this day and age is a murderer after all. Seriously, listen to the news. Then you will see, everyone is either a murdered, rapist or racist.

He pulled his thumb from his mouth and stomped angrily when he found it to still be bleeding. He was probably overreacting slightly, but who cares. He was having a bad day and, well, quite frankly he just wanted to go curl up in a small ball, cry for a bit and then punch something _or someone _very hard.

He turned to Lavi for help, when he found his thumb would not stop bleeding.

Lavi looked at him. And then walked away.

Allen felt a lump in his throat, but soon it was over taken with frustration. "Fine!" he shouted at Lavi's back.

"Just Fine!" he flung his arms out in frustration, a few drops of blood splattering onto the white floor. "You know what Lavi Bookman? You. Are. An Arse Hole!" By this point everyone in the gallery was staring at him.

The red head was stood still in front of him, and muttering filled the air.

Allen lowered his head and looked to the ground, he turned to face the exit. "Whatever...I'm leaving." he mumbled.

The young pianist fled the building, he left as quickly as was humanly possible whilst attempting to look as if he wasn't trying to leave as fast as humanly possible. He passed the cubism, the photos, the sculptures, the gift shop and a group of art students.

He broke into a run once his feet hit the pavement.

His chunky chequered trainers thudded against the stone as he wove his way between people, cradling his injured thumb and trying his very hardest not to let his anger get the better of him by refraining from punching the next _moron _who _kindly _reminded him that:

"The Tube comes every five minutes you know!"

And with that, Allen headed to the one person who could help him.

Linalee Lee.

^PlayingThePart^

Have you ever noticed how certain phrases can sound really funny in certain accents. No? Well they do. For example:

"C'mon guys! On to the Coach!"

Sounds bloody hilarious in a Transylvanian accent, or at least Lavi thought it did.

The red head chuckled as he made his way onto the stuffy coach, ducking his head to get through the door, and following Kanda to their seats.

Linalee and Allen were still having the heated discussion that they seemed to have been having since...well since Allen ran away from him in the Tate. Lavi felt a twinge of...what was it...regret...guilt...yep...definitely guilt, as he looked at the young pianist's bandaged thumb.

He slipped into his seat next to the perpetually grouchy drummer, although Kanda's mood did seem to have lightened upon reuniting with Alma. His cunning ears picked up a little of Linalee and Allen's conversation as they passed.

"Linalee. I _know _that _you_ know what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong."

"Fine. I know you know what...I've done wrong..."

Ah. There was that guilt again.

Lavi shifted further back into his seat, folding his arms and closing his eye. Lavi may have not looked it, but he really did feel awful. He didn't mean to act so...Kanda-like...toward Allen. He really didn't.

But, seeing as he could now remember _everything_. The heat, the way Allen tasted, the way he cried out in pleasure...and the way he _arched_. Oh the way Allen had arched toward him!

Lavi held a hand to his face, hiding his growing blush from the people around him.

There was a time and a place for these sort of thoughts. And now was certainly not the place, sat on a crowded coach driving through the London traffic. Nor was it the time.

Lavi sighed. He really wished they'd never come to this overcrowded city to join some stupid competition. If they hadn't...well they could all be chilling at his apartment, watching terrible movies and debating whether it was illegal to build a camp fire on the kitchen table.

He and Allen would still be the very best of friends...and none of this...awkwardness would be there.

What was annoying though, was the fact that the more Lavi thought about it the more he realised how much he had actually enjoyed it. Now. Lavi was not gay. No way. Not gunna happen. No Lavi loved breasts, and he especially loved them if they were E-cup or above!

And it wasn't as if Allen looked all that feminine. Lavi _had _noticed the white haired painists slim waist, angular hips and thin neck. But none of that made him look especially feminine. Sure he had long eyelashes, but Lavi was sure they were no longer than his and only stood out because of his white hair.

Lavi shook his head and concentrated on staring out the window. He certainly didn't want this internal debate to get any more out of hand.

^PlayingThePart^

They arrived at their destination with little difficulty, there had been traffic and one of the members of Inevitable had been shouting for most of the time...but they were here now.

They'd all been pushed, shoved and herded into the front row. And miraculously, Linalee had managed to get Lavi and Allen to sit next to each other.

It was fair to say, the space between them was cold enough to have it's own little polar bear. Lavi had named this awkward polar bear, Simon. A fittingly awkward name for a little awkward polar bear.

He watched silently as people began to run sound checks, and members of the public began filling the seats. For a new show, the place was surprisingly full.

There were some calls from the rows near the back.

"Look! It's -Man!"

Lavi twisted in his seat, along with a cheery Linalee, and irate Kanda and a quiet Allen.

"Oh. I love those guys!"

Lavi laughed and waved, "We love you too!" he called, urging his fellow band members to wave with him. Allen had actually cracked into a small smile, perhaps the first one Lavi had seen from him all day.

Just as he was about to turn away a brave person called out, "Lavi! You look sexy in an eye patch!"

This caused most of the row to burst into laughter.

"And you look sexy hidden away in the crowds, mysterious fan!" he shouted back. More laughter ensued. The red head glanced to Allen, to find him trying to stifle his giggles.

"Anything else you'd like to say?" he asked.

"WE LOVE YOU KANDA!"

Lavi could have sworn he did just pee himself laughing. Linalee looked like she was ready to fall or her chair, and Allen had _finally_ began to laugh. Kanda, on the other hand, was not amused.

"He loves you too!"

"NO I DO NOT!"

"Shhhh, Kanda, we need the fans!"

Linalee was giggling madly until someone, closer by this time, said "Linalee's the best out of the entire group!" and someone else contributed with, "Yeah! She's got the best legs!"

By now the Chinese girl was blushing bright red. Tears were prickling the edges of Allen Walker's eyes. Kanda had, surprisingly, broken into a possessive scowl.

"But Allen's the cutest!" said adorable boy flushed, hiding behind his hair.

The warning lights were beginning to flash, and the crowd was quietening down, but Lavi still managed to squeeze in and embarrassingly unnecessary, "Agreed!"

Allen shot him a curios look, and it was probably at that point that Lavi decided that he needed to apologize.

^PlayingThePart^

The rest of the show had gone without incident.

Chomesuke had been bubbly and managed to entertain the crowd between breaks.

The judges had judged in an appropriate manner.

Winged Revolution had gotten through, despite their singer being wasted yesterday evening.

And Simon the small awkward polar bear, had gotten smaller and smaller as the evening drew on.

Lavi stretched his lanky arms above his head, pulling them back and making his shoulder click. "Well that was fun!" he said, spinning on his heel to face his friends.

"Very." Linalee agreed and the red head folded his arms behind his head and began walking backwards down an ornate corridor in _'The Vatican'_.

"But damn! That crowd was big. I have a horrible feeling I'll be getting stage fright tomorrow."

Linalee laughed, "I'm sure you'll be fine Lavi."

"Will you watch where you are going." said an unfamiliar voice.

Lavi turned, and found himself face to face with a blonde man clad in _'Vatican'_ uniform. He was carrying a clipboard and looked royally pissed off. "Sorry Mate." Lavi said, holding his hands up in a placating manner.

"I am not, your _'mate'_." the man said, furrowing his eye brows and drawing attention to the two spots on his forehead, "I have it in my right mind to get you kicked out." the man snapped.

"Hey! He said he was sorry. What more do you want?" Allen chipped in, stepping forward to stand next to the guy he was supposed to be ignoring completely.

The blonde man huffed, and brushed past Allen with far more force than was nessecery, pushing the pale boy into Lavi who caught him by the shoulders before flipping his middle finger to the retreating figure of the grouchy hotel worker.

"Bastard, Two Spots." Lavi grumbled, watching as Allen righted himself and the other two continued down the hall, Linalee shooting him a pointed glance.

Lavi and Allen walked in silence, their feet moving quietly on the plush carpet.

The red head took a shaky breath, "T-Thanks for back then..." he said. Allen glanced up at him through black eyelashes, "It's no problem. The guy was being a jerk." and with that he began to walk away.

"Ah. Wait. Allen!" Lavi reached out a hand and gripped a slim shoulder, spinning the boy round to face him. "I...I wanted to apologise for...for the way I've been acting today. I'm sorry. I've been a jerk." I've had a...a lot on my mind."

"Care to tell me?" he asked.

Lavi grimmaced, "I...I can't. I want to. Believe me, I do. But, I can't."

Silence, "I really am sorry..."

There was a sigh from the pianist, "I believe you. And I haven't exactly been the best of friends today either..."

"So, is all forgiven?"

Allen chuckled, "I guess so. But as far as I'm concerned it's _your _fault if I can't play tomorrow." he said, waving his bandaged thumb in front of Lavi's uncovered eye. Lavi grinned, "Fine by me."

He swung an arm around Allen's shoulders, "Let's go, Little Buddy."

Despite Allen's smile, as they walked, Lavi could sense a definite tension between them. All was not resolved yet, that much was clear. But Lavi really couldn't bring himself to tell Allen, just what _had _happened yesterday night.

If Lavi had draped his arm around Allen's shoulders two days ago, he would have laughed or maybe tried to pry the arm away or quite possibly elbowed him in the ribs.

Today, however, he simply walked stiffly and silently next to him.

No, not all was resolved...in fact, not much had been resolved at all.

^PlayingThePart^

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

Well...that was fun to write...OTL kill me now please. I know It took me ages, and the ending is weak... But! And hear me out! Next chapter is called _'Broom Cupboards Are A Bad Place For Confrontation' _(or something along those lines). And will involve Lavi, and Allen, in a very confined space. Together. Alone.

Anyway yes. The end is neigh. Only a few more chappies to go~

As usual reviews are greatly appreciated and I read every single one, and bear in mind all suggestions for improvement.

I mention changing my username, I will, but I'll finish this story first.

Also! Here's a reply to an anonymous review, signed by :

**Kawaiixchopsticks**

Thank you very much~ Hmmm, I noticed that as well. I have gone back changed the earlier chapters, but trying to get them up to the same standard as the later ones is realllllly difficult...and time consuming...and I'm a lazy bugger.

Hehehe~ Laven is pretty awesome~ (here's the update ^^)

Action in this chapter...and later ones...

Uhm. I spell check everything, so it shouldn't be that bad. Maybe the occasional one slips through every now and again...but I try to get them all. Also, you probably know this, but I'm English so some spellings will be different to American ones (but that's just an excuse). And I do suck at spelling...*sigh*...my one down fall.

Awwww thank you very much~ Nah, I can't draw people kissing. I'll work on it for ya though~ ;D


	14. Broom Cupboards And Confrontation

**So sorry for the massively long wait. But I was in the middle of GCSE's, but I'm done now so here we go! Oh and I'm sorry for the ending of the chapter. I just kinda...ran out of idea's and gave up hope. ^^;**

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN:** Broom Cupboards Are A Bad Place For Confrontation

You just have to despise your own subconsciousness, don't you? It's fairly obvious that it's going to be your untimely demise, that thing seems to have it in for you. If you could turn off your subconsciousness, the world would be a far merrier place.

Just think about it. About every single time you subconsciousness has screwed you over. Like, when your sat in class and you _know _ you need to listen because learning is important and what not. However, your subconsciousness has decided it'd be _much _more fun to go off on a wild tangent on whether Barium + Colbalt + Nitrogen, would equal BaCoN which as we all know is exactly the same as Bacon. And if therefore one could make a sandwich by adding together; (Barium + Colbalt + Nitrogen) and (Boron + Rhenium + Damstadium).

By the time you've returned from the fun world where you make food substances from elements in the periodic table. The lesson is nearly over and you've missed everything of importance.

Then there's also: nightmares, remembering embarrassing situations that happened years ago and you haven't thought of since, getting _that_ song stuck in your head all day and the completely random attacks of emotion that have you in tears at the most inappropriate of times.

All in all, your subconsciousness is a bitch. And there's nothing you can do about it.

^PlayingThePart^

Allen awoke with a start, his mind reeling. He blinked frantically as his gaze flicked around the darkened room. He could feel a light sweat on his brow, making his white hair cling sickeningly to his forehead.

He moved his discoloured left hand up to his chest, feeling his heart beat beginning to slow down from it's erratic pace. He let out a shaky breath and fell back down into his pillow, unaware he had even sat up.

"You alright?" questioned a voice from the darkness on his right, making him start and his heart speed back up again.

Allen sat up and peered into the darkness, silver eyes focusing on the silhouette of his temporary room mate that was visible only due to the green light from the alarm clock, which read 2:27AM, and the slight yellow blur that faded through the curtains.

"Y-yeah." he replied. His ears picked up the sound of Lavi shifting underneath his covers. And then a bright light blinded him.

"Bloody hell that's bright." Lavi croaked out, fumbling around blindly for something or other as Allen blinked the spots away from his vision.

The red heads hand closed around a glass of water, from which he promptly drank, presumably to rid himself of his croaky voice. The glass reconnected with the bedside table gently, clinking onto the surface.

"So," Lavi said, sitting himself up and turning to face the still slightly shaky Allen, "What up?"

Allen just rubbed one of his arms wearily, turning to face the floor.

"Nightmare?" Lavi questioned gently.

Allen's head whipped up, his grey eyes connecting with Lavi's concerned green one. He nodded. Lavi tilted his head slightly, looking at the pianist for a while. Allen shifted nervously under his gaze.

"What was it about?" the red headed guitarist finally asked, noticing Allen's cheeks flush slightly.

"You'll laugh at me." he mumbled, crossing his legs and placing his hands in his lap as Lavi continued to look at him. A few minutes passed on the clock, before Allen finally sighed.

"I dreamt I was in one of _'The Silent Realms'_, alright." he said.

Lavi's face cracked into a small grin. For a moment he had thought it was going to be something about Allen's father. Now Lavi wasn't a heartless bastard, but he wasn't _quite _sure how he would have dealt with that situation.

"Don't worry Lil'Buddy." he said, reaching an arm across the gap between their beds and placing a hand on his friends shoulder, "We've _all _had our nightmares about _'The Silent Realms'_. Those things are just plain evil. I'd rather spend a whole night watching Paranormal Activity than face another one of those."

Allen grinned, "Tell me about it, those things were worse than Ghirahim and Demise combined." He seemed to consider something for a moment, "Although...I _do _love Ghirahim. He is no doubt the best villain ever."

Lavi snickered again, "Damn straight...or not in his case..." Allen gave him the eye. Lavi waved his hands in defence, "Hey. No offence mate. But c'mon, he practically felt Link up. And, and! The freaking to tongue!"

Allen giggled, it was far too early in the morning but he was happy that Lavi was finally talking to him. It had been pretty tense upon their return yesterday evening.

Both of them had walked into the rooms, and had acted pretty normal. In fact to an outsider, they would have looked like the best of friends.

But, in reality. It had just been a big heap of awkward. It's probably best not to explain, it's just _that _awkward.

They were talking now, properly...well if you could consider debating the sexual orientation of an over dramatic Demon Lord, a _'proper conversation'_.

Lavi glanced at the slightly younger man. His green eye roaming over his amusing black shirt, upon which there was a picture of a sleepy kitten. Said sleepy kitten was rubbing on of it's eyes, while the other stared out in cute cerulean blue, and was yawning beneath fuzzy white fur.

Cute. But what made the shirt amusing, was the fact that this particular little kitten was wearing oversized glasses and was sat next to a pile of video games.

Beneath this kitten, were the words 'Adorkable'.

Lavi snorted, only Allen Walker could pull off a shirt like that.

Actually; Lavi thought, eyeing Allen's prominent collar bones, pulling off didn't sound like a bad idea. He mentally slapped himself. Once again he needed to sort out his thoughts and tell them _exactly_ when was the 'right time and place', seeing as they seemed to take joy in surfacing at the most inappropriate of times.

There was a moment of silence, well relatively speaking of course; how silent can it be in the middle of London? Cars and taxi's trundled past the window, late night travellers making their way home from vigorous parties.

"Well..." Allen said, tipping his head back onto the headboard. "What now?" He glanced out of the corner of his eye.

Lavi shrugged his shoulders and grinned lopsidedly, "Well...considering it's nearly 3AM...and we have to perform...I think delving back into the world of sleep would be a good idea." He flicked off the light, plunging them into darkness.

He heard a small snort from Allen, "Cheers, mate. Now I can't find my pillow."

Lavi snickered, "Oh man up. I'm sure you'll be fine." Allen laughed, "You know, that's the second time I've been told to 'man up' today."

Lavi cast his mind back to the previous day; unless of course Allen had snuck out at some point between half-eleven and now and some weirdo with a moustache (because all weirdo's who hang around near posh hotels in the middle of London have moustaches) had told him to 'man up' for some unexplainable reason.

Ah. Kanda. KFC. "Technically, that was yesterday. But I'll let you off just this once." Allen huffed, he knew Lavi was a stickler for the tiny details but that didn't stop it being unbelievably annoying. It was the grammar corrections that got on his nerves the most.

Though he _knew _Lavi only did it to annoy him, seeing as he didn't do it to either Kanda or Linalee.

Lavi seemed to have a habit of showing his affection, if you could call it that, for someone by driving them round the bend, to wits end, up the wall and any other analogy you may come up with in your spare time.

He pissed off Kanda too the point of his, most probably, brutal death at the hands of said Samurai-Ninja-Drummer.

He seemed to tease Linalee to no end, just for the sake of it.

And Allen. Well. To Allen, it seemed as if Lavi got his high by annoying the younger boy. But, he couldn't help but enjoy it, it was just the way their..._relationship_ (for want of a better word) worked.

The two lay in darkness, Allen wanted to go back to sleep...but he could tell Lavi was thinking about something. And that that 'something' was a question he wanted to ask Allen. It was actually rather odd, the pianist thought, he'd only known Lavi about a Month, maybe a little over, and he already seemed to know every little detail about him.

He was Allen's best friend, really. Allen hadn't ever had a best friend...he'd had _friends_...quite a few...but he seemed to have lost contact with all of them only a few months after leaving Sixth Form.

There was a shifting from the bed next to his, Allen could sense a question on Lavi's lips.

"Allen?" came hesitantly from the shadows.

"Yes?" he replied, calmly smiling as his eyes traced non existent patterns in the darkness.

"This is going to sound really rude..." Lavi began. To most , this wouldn't have been a good sign. However. Allen was used to Lavi's self doubt when addressing certain situations...often situations revolving around Allen's sexuality.

He took a deep breath, "But...Why don't you act Gay?"

There was a brief pause, a car whizzed passed the window.

"You mean...why don't I act Camp? As in stereotypically Gay?" Allen asked, wanting to be sure of what Lavi was asking him.

"Hm." was Lavi's conformation.

"I act how I want to act. I'm just who I am. Just because I prefer guys, doesn't mean I have to act over excitable, dance my way across rooms and walk around waving a rainbow flag...and to be brutally honest...I find those types of people...just a little annoying. I'm just like any other guy...except I have much better fashion sense, obviously."

Lavi laughed lightly, "You really are a pretty impressive guy ya know." Allen smiled in the dark, even though he knew the red headed companion couldn't see him. He heard Lavi's breath hitch in the dark again, "Have you ever...this is a weird question...but...have you ever 'fallen' for a straight guy?"

Allen smiled bitterly, "I try my best not to. But...well as someone, although I'm not to sure who, once said; _'The heart wants, what the heart wants.'_"

Lavi made an affirmative sound, "I guess your right."

^PlayingThePart^

"Bollocks."

That was the first word of the day. Quite a strange thing to say first thing in the morning though.

Lavi shouted it actually.

Which in turn startled Allen into wakefulness and into the cold clutches of the floor.

"L-lavi." Allen squeaked, trying to untangle himself from the duvet which had collapsed on top of him. Allen was staring into the dark confines of his duvet-prison when he heard footsteps approaching him.

He could feel hands ghosting over the soft sheet, sometimes pressing into his skin, as they (he assumed) looked for the edge to untangle him.

Suddenly a face appeared in his vision, "We can't play New Divide." it stated. Allen blinked a few times, trying to get the face into focus. He knew it was Lavi's face, he recognised the voice. He vaguely recalled their conversation, that they must have had...three maybe four hours ago.

"New Divide...oh the competition...wait why?" Allen asked, standing up and kicking the duvet back onto the bed before turning to face his panicking friend.

"Your thumb! Your bloody thumb!" Lavi exclaimed, smacking a hand to his forehead and spinning on the spot. Allen glanced down at his injured thumb, noting that the cut had reopened during the night.

He absent mindedly made his way to their bathroom and began the simple task of cleaning and re-bandaging the wound.

"What about my thumb?" he asked.

Lavi gripped his shoulders, he had apparently been following him, and spun him around "Think Allen! Think! How many times in New Divide do you play a note with your thumb?"

Allen began to mentally play the music, his fingers automatically trying to play the notes where they rested on the rim of the sink. He felt a sharp pain jab into the open skin every time he patted the ceramic.

"Shit." he said.

"My sentiments exactly." Lavi agreed, removing his hands from Allen's shoulders and placing them on the rim of the sink too. Which effectively trapped Allen.

He was considering mentioning this _tiny_ detail, but he decided against it. Lavi seemed deep in concentration. And, with the way he had been reacting to Allen's _close _presence recently, he had a strong suspicion that the red head would recoil away.

There was the sound of movement nearby, Allen glanced over Lavi's shoulder in time to see Linalee appear in the doorway.

She caught his eye, "I...I see you two...sorted everything out then." she said, turning her gaze too look at the floor, "Sorry if I'm interrupting...but me and Kanda heard swearing..." She made a half hearted gesture, and the slid from the room.

Lavi looked down at him. And then he recoiled away as if he'd been burned, fast enough to turn and leave after Linalee without Allen even registering it. All he could think about, was how much it hurt.

Allen had faced a fair amount during his life. And most of that had been painful. But this hurt. This hurt more than the scars on his face, more than the lingering regret, more than all the punches to his blackened arm added together and much much more than anything Lavi had ever done to him before.

He stayed in the bathroom, staring blankly at his feet. Silently rearranging his thoughts and putting a smile onto his face. He sighed and began the short journey into the main room.

Allen was met with an odd sight. Linalee, who was currently wearing loose fitting tracksuit bottoms and a _very_ tight shirt, was leaning over Lavi (who was in nothing but a pair of pyjama trousers, and was sprawled across one of the sofa's holding a cushion in front of his face.) brandishing a toothbrush.

Allen chuckled, sighed, and sat down on the remaining sofa. Most people probably would have reacted differently. But Allen was used to this madness, and found it much easier to watch the chaos unfold rather than getting directly involved.

However, trying to not get 'directly involved' was proving rather difficult. What with Linalee yelling "I swear to God Lavi! If you're pulling my leg!"

and Lavi replying, "Don't blame me! It's his thumb!"

Lavi pointed at Allen, who rolled his eyes; "What did I say yesterday Lavi?" he asked the red head, as Kanda entered the room.

Lavi looked around sheepishly, "That...if you couldn't play...it was my fault."

Kanda pinched the bridge of his nose, "So the midget can't play." Allen scowled up at him, "The names Allen. And I can play, just not New Divide."

"Oh God this is a nightmare!" Linalee cried, fisting her hair and sitting on the floor. Allen eyed her suspiciously, turning to Kanda "Is she always like this in the morning?" he whispered.

Kanda nodded, running a hand through untied hair. "Look. Linalee." he said calmly. "You're overreacting."

"Yep overreacting." Lavi chimed in. Kanda glared, "Will you just shut the Hell up for once in your life? Look. We can play another song. One the midget-" "Allen" "-_can_ play."

The other three occupants of the room looked expectantly toward Allen. He fidgeted uneasily and began to run possible songs through his brain. The list he could actually play, was shrinking swiftly...and the list of ones he could actually play _well _was even smaller.

"Well?" Lavi interrupted his thought process.

"Give me a minute. Some of us have _normal _brain capacity." he snapped.

There was silence. Well not complete silence. There was the muffled sound of the other Hotel dwellers, the sound of cars and people outside and the steady sound of Lavi's breathing.

"Let The Flames Begin." he said, snapping his fingers. "That'll do it."

"Allen I'm sure I _have _told you this, but I'll tell you again, setting fire to the other bands is _not_ the answer" Lavi said, looking worriedly at the younger pianist.

"Well if Adele can set fire to the rain, I don't see why we cant burn a few bands." Linalee chipped in, earning a few worried looks.

"Right...I'll pretend I didn't hear that..." Allen mumbled, shaking his head before turning to Lavi and Kanda. "What I _meant_ was that I can probably play _'Let The Flames Begin'_ without to much issue..." he let his sentence trail off. Watching Lavi and Kanda exchanging looks.

"Sounds fine to me."

"Me too."

The three men glanced to their female companion. She sighed, "Fine by me...who are we up against today anyway?"

Allen picked up the sheets of paper, "Uh. A Little girl that plays the harp."

"We'll be fine." Lavi chipped in.

"Ouran?"

"Hmm...they might scrape the female vote..."

"Some old guy who can sing baritone."

"Easy peasy~"

"Did you just say easy peasy?"

"Yep!"

"...weirdo."

"And a couple of other shits...how many people/groups go through again?"

Lavi scratched his eye brow, "Two...I think."

"Well then..." Allen said, looking up nervously. "We should be okay, right?"

And yes. There was trembling, nerves, confusion and hope mixed into that sentence to create one big flobby mess of...well trembling, nerves, confusion and hope.

Allen thought he hid that flobby mess well.

He didn't.

^PlayingThePart^

"_This is what will be, oh glory..."_

Lavi's fingers continued to strum out the last few notes of their song. Trailing off into silence as Allen continued to tap in the slowly silencing notes into the piano. Kanda's drumming had stopped long ago, along with Linalee's bass.

"Well that went well." Lavi said, flopping onto the floor. He back sliding down the wall with little difficulty.

The four band members were practising in one of the recording studios, that were situated in a building not all that far from 'the stage'. They had traversed their way there shortly after attempting to eat breakfast, which you will know if you've ever had serious nerves is really difficult.

Allen managed though.

In fact Allen managed so well, that he _just _managed to eat three bowls of cereal, seven waffles, four pancakes, a poptart (god only knew where that came from, Americans must have been stealthily invading London in a bid to take over it's epic Englishness and steal all the red buses!), an Activia (because Linalee _insisted_ that he needed something healthy to stop his gut from imploding) and a Snickers.

Lavi ate a single pancake. He then cut the remaining three into shapes which vaguely resembled Llama's and made them battle it out in a syrupy lake.

And now. Well now he was hungry.

"I'm gunna go see if there's anywhere to get some food, because I am starving. I'll pick you guys up some stuff." Lavi flopped onto his side and tried to pull himself to his feet. Needless to say he failed miserably.

He heard Allen chuckle from somewhere infront of him, he glanced up only to see a pair of white jeans. He assumed the skinny legs, clad in overly tight pristine white jeans, belonged to their resident pianist. Allen Walker.

"Need a hand?" came his sarcastic voice. Lavi reluctantly took Allen's outstretched hand, fingers brushing against some of the smaller boys 'man bracelets'.

Lavi was yanked to his feet, nodded his thanks to Allen and began his _epic _journey out the door and down the hall.

"Whoa there cowboy." Called Allen, his footsteps speeding up until he was striding along next to the red head. Lavi swivelled his eye down to look at Allen's folded arms.

"I'm coming with you." he said, nodding his head defiently.

"Why?" questioned Lavi, running a hand through his hair.

Allen rolled his eyes, "No need to sound so dejected mate. I'm just here to help carry anything, that's all."

Lavi wasn't keen on that idea to say the least. It wasn't that he was angry at Allen. Afterall this whole mess was his own fault. He couldn't blame Allen.

But, he didn't know what to do.

He sighed mentally. He really had enough to deal with without shamelessly shoving this _issue_ with Allen on top of the teetering pile.

Lavi had decided, he wasn't to sure when but it might have been when he cruelly blanched away from the white haired boy earlier this morning, that he _had _to tell Allen what happened. The younger boy clearly didn't remember, and Lavi doubted he'd let their friendship return to the way it was before without clearing the air between them...so to speak.

But how was he supposed to tell him?

Delicately hint?

Shout it too his face?

Write it down?

Text it?

Sing it?

Maybe he should leave a series of increasingly challenging clues; which would take the boy all over the world to collect symbols which, when rearranged, would point to some old building in Puerto Rico to find a book containing the co-ordinates of their hotel room where Lavi would have left a 1000 piece puzzle which, when put together, would reveal a picture of a condom and the words _'whoops, my bad'_.

Lavi stopped walking.

That didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Uhm, Lavi?" Allen asked. Lavi flicked back into reality, "Sorry." he said, scratching the back of his head. "I was just wondering where we were actually headed."

Allen chuckled, "If I remember correctly, there are some vending machines around the corner."

Lavi looked at him curiously, "But we don't have any money with us..."

Allen rolled his eyes, sticking his hip out slightly "They're free for us lot. You really weren't paying attention this morning were you?" he said.

Lavi scoffed, continuing to walk down the corridor. Though Allen had a point, he really _hadn't _been paying attention this morning.

They reached the vending machines and Lavi began pressing buttons at random. Haphazardly picking items up and holding them out to Allen, who scoped them into his arms.

And then dropped them.

Lavi laughed from his crouching position on the floor, continuing to grab items and place them on top of the newly formed pile.

He heard Allen sigh and prop himself up on the machines. Lavi glanced at him, "I must say Allen, you're looking particularly _gay _today."

Allen looked critically at his own attire. White skinny jeans, very tight baby-blue shirt (which did, admittedly, have a picture of Rainbow Dash on it)...he was beginning to see Lavi's point.

He huffed, Lavi chuckled and pointed at the Pegasus. "You're not wearing _that_ on stage are you."

Allen smirked, "Actually I was thinking about wearing the Pinkie Pie one."

Lavi held his head in his hands, "How can someone who plays rock music, laughed when the guy got sliced up in Cube, be an avid Superwholock-" "SuperWhoLockErlin" Allen corrected, he didn't like it when they left out Merlin.

"Sorry," Lavi replied sarcastically, "Superwholockerlin fan and own 'emo boots'...possibly be a fan of _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_?"

Allen laughed, "If you watch it, you'll understand."

Lavi stood up and looked at him indignantly, "I will never, ever, watch My Little Pony."

Allen shrugged and flicked his fringe out of his eyes. "Your loss mate."

The two of them made their way back down the corridors, passing by two members of Ouran, one of which was whining about cake. Lavi chuckled slightly.

They quickly found their way back to their temporary practice room. Lavi dumped their spoils onto a round table and swiped up a scrap of note paper. His working eye scanned across the neatly written words.

He felt Allen peek over his shoulder, "What is it?" he asked.

"It's a note from Linalee." he replied, folding the note into his pocket.

Allen looked at him curiously. "It says she and Kanda have gone out to find the nearest Starbucks because we're all in desperate need of coffee." he elaborated.

Allen furrowed his eye brows and shuffled over to the far wall, where a schedule had been pinned.

"What's the time?" he asked, even though there was a clock no less than 3 feet away from him. Lavi glanced at said clock, "'Bout half-eleven."

Allen nodded, "We've got the recording, you know for the i-tunes thingy," Lavi had completely forgotten that all the finalists had their semi-final and final songs recorded for i-tunes. Allen continued, "at 2pm. We've got our stage planning straight after that, which includes a really short rehersal so the 'Crew' no how to set stuff up. Then we have a technical rehersal at 4:30pm. And we have to be backstage by 6pm and ready at 7pm."

Lavi made a mental plan, which he was damn sure he'd forget.

"We're third on, after the first AD break." Allen muttered, turning another page.

"Right before us." Came a smooth Portuguese voice.

Allen and Lavi spun around, to meet two sets of Golden eyes. Tyki Mikk and Sheryl Kamelot.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" spluttered Lavi, quickly glancing to Allen and finiding a similar expression of shock.

"We just came to say hello." Sheryl taunted, his voice implying something much more sinister.

"Well to Allen," Tyki continued, winking at the shortest man in the room. "Not to you." he finished, looking disdainfully at Lavi.

Sheryl reached out a hand and gripped Allen's chin, turning his head this way and that. "You were right. He is rather cute."

Lavi was fuming by this point, "Oi." he raised his voice, drawing their attention. He reached up and pushed Sheryl away from Allen. No violently, but with enough force to send a warning.

"Oh you've done it now." Tyki chuckled.

"Tyki get the cupboard door." Sheryl snarled.

"With pleasure, brother."

Lavi wasn't too sure how it happened, but he felt hands grasp at his shoulders and push him, arse first, into a supply cupboard. His head thumped against the back wall, but he still tried to push himself to his feet. Unfortunately another weight crashed into him, sending him backwards in a mess of flailing limbs and red hair.

"See you later~" chimed one of the brothers.

And then it got very dark, very fast.

^PlayingThePart^

Lavi heard Allen shuffling around above him, "Door's locked from the outside." he called softly. Lavi groaned. His head still swimming from the smack into the wall.

"Fuck my life." he moaned.

Allen chuckled.

"We're stuck in a supply cupboard..." Lavi supplied uselessly.

He hadn't thought this happened in real life. When did this _ever _happen in real life? Sure it happened in cheesy rom-coms and badly written stories. But seriously? _Real life_? Nope. Nada. Never happened. _EVER_.

Well now what were they meant to do? If they followed the line of rom-coms...Lavi flushed and shook his head. Nooooo. That was dangerous territory. Best get out of the forbidden area as fast as ya can, Simba.

Oh great now Lion King references.

How hard did he hit his head again?

"We're stuck in a fucking supply cupboard!" he reiterated.

Allen laughed softly. And suddenly his face was illuminated in pale blue light. Ah. A phone. Allen's white hair glowed ominously in the dark cupboard. He shone the light around.

"Well...at least it's the fun kind of cupboard. No disinfectant, just music supplies. And for some reason an industrial sized crate of matches..."

Lavi chuckled, scanning his eyes up and down his slender friend. Eyes eventually focusing on the point where Allen was, apparently, straddling him.

Lavi's first though was _'Damn this guy's light.'_

His second was just _'Damn...'_

because lets face it, that summed up the situation perfectly. His gay friend, who he'd slept with unknowingly, was straddling his lap and looked god damn gorgeous.

Even Lavi had to admit that, with his milky skin illuminated by a strange blue light, his scar standing out starkly, and his white hair falling softly past doey silver eyes, he looked incredible.

Not that Allen didn't always look incredible...No! No. Dangerous territory again!

"Uh..." he said eloquently. Allen tilted his head to the side, and then finally seemed to notice just what he was sat on.

"Ah. Sorry Lavi." he pulled himself to his feet and had a quick scan around the shelves, before folding himself back down onto the floor. Legs drawn up to his chest, back propped against the door.

"We should text Linalee." Lavi stated. Allen rolled his eyes. "What?" Lavi huffed indignantly.

"We could, or we could just wait for them to come back, then we'd have coffee too."

Lavi opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. "Fair point." he admitted.

There was silence.

"LET US OUT!" Lavi yelled, jumping to his feet, towering over Allen and thumping the door with his fist.

Allen looked at him with wide eyes, as soon as the little fiasco started, it was over. Lavi slumped back against the wall, legs brushing Allen's in a way that shouldn't have felt as intimate as it did.

"W...what?" The pale boy stuttered.

Lavi grinned lopsidedly, "I felt it would waste an opportunity to scream 'Let us out'...It had to be done."

Allen burst out laughing, "You, Lavi Bookman, are bloody insane!"

Lavi snickered, "Why thank you. I do try my best."

A comfortable silence settled upon the two. They just sat there, listening to the sounds of each others breathing.

"Well what should we talk about?" Allen asked. He leaned his head back against the door, exposing his pale neck.

_Damn_. Lavi thought again. He needed something, a conversation topic, that would distract him from the little sexy minx infront o-...did he just think of Allen as a minx? Shit. What was the most revolting, un sexy thing ever?...

"The Human Centipede." he blurted out.

Allen blanched back, "No. Just no. That is the sickest most horrifying film in existence." he actually looked like he was about to be sick.

"it's not as bad as the second..." Lavi mumbled, glad to have something else to focus on.

Allen look appalled, "You're kidding me? You actually sat through _both _of them?"

Lavi grimaced, "Unfortunately, yes."

"Do not tell me what happens..."

Lavi nodded, watching as the light on Allen's phone timed out and he didn't bother to make it light up again.

Silence.

"Hey Lavi?" Allen asked tentatively.

"Hm?"

"I don't mean to pry but...and I know this really isn't the time or place but...uhm...why have you been acting so...well...no Lavi-ish? And why just toward me."

Well. Lavi certainly hadn't been expecting that. He was suddenly very thankful for their lack of light.

"Allen I-" "Don't." Allen cut across, stilling the movement of his lips, "Don't give me some bullshit 'I don't know what you're on about' answer. Please."

Lavi took a deep breath, "Well I guess it's now or never then..." he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Look...I'm not...I just..."

Be a man, Lavi. He told himself. Be. A. Man.

"Allen. I dunno how to break this too you but...I may have...sort of...slept...with...you..." he trailed of meekly.

"Ah." Allen said finally.

"Ah indeed." Lavi agreed, and couldn't help the small smile that flickered onto his lips.

There was more silence. This was actually going better than he'd expected...he hadn't been punched in the nose. Yet.

"I'm sorry." Allen mumbled.

Lavi did a double take, "Wait? What? _You're _sorry? _I_ should be the one saying sorry." He heard Allen laugh.

"Well yes you should. But, I should've had more self control. And for that. I'm sorry."

Lavi laughed, a proper laugh. He could practically hear the smirk on Allen's face.

"So are we friends now or what?" he asked. Lavi laughed awkwardly, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Allen...I'll try go back to being friends like before...but we...ya know..."

Allen chuckled, "I know. But you need time to figure things out, so until then we can just be friends."

Well that was rather cryptic, Lavi thought. But at least they were back on good terms.

Allen thumped his head back against the door, "Now that that's settled. Will you take me to go see 'Avengers'?"

Lavi laughed, and shuffled around in the small space until he was sat next to his friend. He draped an arm across his shoulders. "Not right now mate. Not right now." he said.

^PlayingThePart^

They sat in companionable silence for roughly 15 minutes. Then abruptly the door had dissapeared behind their backs and left them flailing in the air momentarily, before the crashed to the ground in a fit of _very manly_ giggles.

"Why exactly were you two locked in a cupboard?" Linalee asked them over coffee. The four of them sat wherever they could nursing reasonably hot foam cups of coffee.

Lavi took a big gulp, "Tyki Mikk and that guy...Sherly?...locked us in."

Kanda and Linalee exchanged glances, "Okay...but why?"

Lavi looked over to where Allen was propped against the wall. "No reason..." he muttered.

"Ooookay." Linalee raised her eyebrows and shook her head slightly. She knew there was really no reason trying to get information out of Lavi that he really didn't want to give.

"Right. Let's get on with...whatever the hell we're meant to do next." Kanda grumbled. Moving to check their timetable.

^PlayingThePart^

The four band members were nervously waiting in centre stage. The lights had been dimmed and the results were in.

It was. Well. Rather terrifying. Standing there. In the darkness, while tones of people watched you. Yeah. Not fun. Andd what made it just that little bit worse. Was the fact that _Noah's Ark_ had already gone through.

Yep. The tanned bastards that had locked them in a cupboard, and then spent three minutes on stage singing about being drunk and having sex, had gotten through to the finals.

Lavi cast his eyes across the crowd nervously. If they didn't get through...their dream was over. Gone. Swept up into thin air and then thrust into an alternate dimension.

"And the final act, through to the semi-final's...is..."

Chomesuke's voice rang out, before pausing in that long drawn out way that they always did when announcing results on tv shows. It was annoying when you watched it, and panic inducing when you were actually stood there on stage.

The pause continued. Lavi turned to glance at Linalee, she was staring studiously at the floor. Kanda was glaring at the audience. And Allen.

Allen was staring right back at him with those silver eyes, face partially hidden in the darkness.

Abruptly a light flashed into existence above their heads. Cheers burst through the silence as their band name was shouted to the crowd.

But for some reason. All the cheers and clapping, and the sheer fact that they'd gotten through. Didn't seem as important, as the smile spreading across Allen's face.

Which was rather worrying...now that Lavi thought about it.

^PlayingThePart^

**Authors Note:**

**Oh God I am so so so sorry for the long wait! I've just. I've been busy. And Hoshino's slow Manga updating is steadily making me loose interest in the fandom. But I swear I will finish this story! 3 to 4 more chapters to go!**

Uhm...just a quick one here...but I've noticed quite a few other Humour/Laven fics with them in a band setting...popping up around recently. Now...I'm pretty damn sure it's coincidence (seeing as I'm hardly ever around in the DGM section anyways...), but (being the frightened little author that I am) I'm just gunna ask you guys to tell me if you spot _anything_ in someone else's fanfic, which is clearly a rip off of something I've written. I doubt it'll happen though, but I did start this a couple of years ago...and the new ones...

I've had a fanfiction stolen before, and it's not nice.

Anyway! Enough of my whining!

Sorry for all the Skyward Sword References, kinda addicted to that game atm.

Ah! That Bacon thing with the Peridoic table, something myself and my friend Lauren (who you may know from 'An Interview With Lauren' on DA) did in Chemistry...when we were supposed to be doing something about...moles...?


End file.
